Investing in Timber

[Woodworker]

Forest Certification? I just read the book Collapse, by Jared Diamond. In it he talks about deforestation as one of the prime causes for societies to fail. "70% of all wood cut in Indonesia comes from illegal operations.", page 471. To combat this, companies such as Home Depot and IKEA will only buy wood from "certified forests". Is TATF a certified forest? Would it make our investment more valuable if TATF were certified?

I have been contemplating for what I would purchase teak. It would be nice to use teak for shelves in the bathroom, where it is possible there might be long-standing water. I used oak for this and recently had to spend many hours sanding out a black mark. I did not use teak for this because here all we can get is furnature grade teak. Perfectly straight, beautiful grain, etc. Such perfect wood is overkill for much of what I do. a) It would be nice if a store like Mills Fleet Farm handled teak, b) What about teak picture frames and molding? c) flooring, d) charcole (perhaps the branches could be used for this, e) sell the growing trees for carbon credits. What I am suggesting is that TATF, and us, might make more money if TATF sold the trees in many forms rather than just as raw teak.