Environmental Benefits of Forestry Lumber Management: A Conversation With Amy Shields
Note: this is a transcript from our recent AHA interview. If you would like to watch the full video, check out our content studio page. This interview is also available as a podcast episode – find it here.
Steve Stack:
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Growing Up at the Sawmill
Steve Stack:
Welcome back to Studio 3B at Baird Brothers Fine Hardwoods. I’m Steve Stack, director of new business development. Today, we have a very interesting educational interview coming up with our guest, Amy Shields. Welcome.
Amy Shields:
Hi. Thank you for having me.
Steve Stack:
Amy Shields is the executive director of Allegheny Hardwoods Utilization Group from western Pennsylvania. I hear you’re going to teach us some stuff today.
Amy Shields:
I’ll try.
Steve Stack:
I know the group that you’re with, but I know you have a lot of other associations that cover anything from education to legislation and advocacy groups. You’re busy.
Amy Shields:
Yeah, we are. I’m very busy. AHUGS have a lot of work under their mandate in a lot of different focus areas. It keeps me very busy.
Steve Stack:
Good. Before we start talking about some of the programs that you implement over in western Pennsylvania, I heard that at one time, you and your husband had a sawmill operation.
Amy Shields:
Yeah. Well, my husband and his brother had a sawmill. They bought it in 1988. Back then, they basically were just buying themselves jobs. Neither one of them had any experience in that. My husband has a geography degree and my brother-in-law was looking to get into construction. Instead, he went to lumber grading school. My husband shifted his focus to learning about timber, how it grows, and how to buy and sell it.
In 1992, I came along and joined the operation. I have an accounting background; that’s my field of expertise. We had that mill from 1988 to 2006 when it became part of Bingaman Lumber out of Pennsylvania. We were trying to figure out where we wanted to go in the future.
That was back in 2006. Everyone was putting in dry kilns. Globalization was becoming the big-ticket. We weren’t really sure if we wanted to expand to that degree. It just so happened that one of our lumber customers said, “Have you ever considered selling your mill?” We got to talking and it was a fit. They were like family.
My husband, brother-in-law, and I initially managed that facility in Elk County, Pennsylvania for Bingaman. They also owned another mill over in eastern Pennsylvania of similar size. We managed that one, as well. Then in 2015, they bought a third mill in south-central Pennsylvania. At that point, my brother-in-law retired, so my husband and I managed all three sawmill locations for them.
In 2019, we decided we were going to step back from the sawmill business. I had been a long-time board member and volunteer with AHUG, so he retired and I stepped into the executive director seat at AHUG in January 2020. I’ve been there for the last two and a half years.
Steve Stack:
Very good. I had the opportunity of traveling to the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show where I met Amy. After our conversation, I thought, “This lady is interesting. I need to introduce her to our audience.” So I invited you over. Thanks again for coming.
Amy Shields:
Well, thank you.
Forest Management Practices and Education
Steve Stack:
I want to start with a story that involves the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
It’s the WoodMobile. I visit it every year when I go down to the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show. It’s, what, a 40-foot van?
Amy Shields:
Yeah. I think it’s about 40 feet.
Steve Stack:
It’s quite the assembly of education and history.
Amy Shields:
It’s interactive.
Steve Stack:
Everything from interactive to-
Amy Shields:
Displays.
Steve Stack:
It has displays and devices in the trailer as well as coloring books for the kids. Folks, if you haven’t seen it, go to the website.
Amy Shields:
Yeah, it has its own page under the Hardwoods Development Council.
Steve Stack:
Whether you’re young or old-
Amy Shields:
There’s something for you.
Steve Stack:
It’s very interesting.
Amy Shields:
We’ve been in this business a long time. Our oldest son came home very upset one day when he was in first grade because he learned in school that forests were being mowed down by loggers. The example was really about the rainforest, but that didn’t really come across in the lesson.
What he heard was that oxygen was being pulled from the air every time we cut a tree down, and that cutting down trees is bad. He came home and was very upset because his parents were in the business. How could we possibly contribute to the end of the world as he knew it?
At that point, I said, “We really need to do something.” Our kids are hearing the wrong message at school. That’s what led me to get involved in AHUG. One of the primary things that AHUG does is education and outreach, both to the general public and students.
One of the primary ways we do that is the Pennsylvania WoodMobile. It’s a joint effort between the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and private industry in Pennsylvania. There are about 30 companies that have contributed material.
The WoodMobile is just beautiful when you walk in. It has cherry cabinets. It has a beautiful white oak and walnut floor that was produced by Hickman Lumber. On one side, it shows a map of the state of Pennsylvania where our forested areas are located. There’s a big discussion about the history of our forests. It was a softwood forest (about 90% softwoods) back in the day when folks first arrived here and harvested everything for building the country and fueling the industrial revolution. It goes through that history and shows pictures of what the hillsides looked like back then.
Then it discusses how once those softwoods were gone, the hardwoods sprang to life and generated the forests that we see today. There’s a great section in there on invasive species. Part of the funding for The WoodMobile comes from the USDA. They provide some invasive species and invasive pest information to get that out to folks.
Inside on the right is all about the industry. It covers everything from defining what primary manufacturing is to secondary manufacturing, wood products that are made, and how no part of the tree goes to waste. We have statistics in there. The hardwood industry is the ninth-largest employer in Pennsylvania. Over 60,000 people work in the industry. We have over 2,100 companies with a business presence in every one of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. It’s a huge player in our economy. All of that information is there in The WoodMobile for folks to see.
We also have some touch screen units where folks can learn about invasive species and pests. We have some little turn-style games where folks can try to figure out the species by comparing the bark to the leaves. That’s always a big, popular one. We have a display of hardwood baseball bats that were all made in Pennsylvania.
We have a case loaded with items. You’re supposed to figure out which of the two things in that case are not made with any wood fiber. It’s a stumper, but I won’t spoil it.
There’s also a ton of literature. Everything in there is free. Folks can take tree identification books. We have books on identifying invasive plants and pests, what to do about them if you see them, and how to get in touch with a forestry company to look at your property. We have puzzles and coloring books for kids. It’s amazing what’s packed in the WoodMobile.
Steve Stack:
I have a couple of takeaways. Number one, there’s no admission to walk through this WoodMobile.
Amy Shields:
Yep, it’s free of charge.
Steve Stack:
When you have a chance to go through it, two things stand out to me. A lot of things stand out, but I always admire the wood bicycle and there’s a pretty fancy guitar in there.
Amy Shields:
Right. There’s a bicycle made out of cherry and hard maple (curly maple), which is a stunner. People are always taken aback by it. And it’s fully functional. That’s the number one question we get. “Can you really ride this?” And we do. There’s also a Martin guitar that’s made from trees harvested after Hurricane Sandy. It’s a beautiful, very valuable guitar, and it’s displayed there as well.
From Softwood Lumber to Hardwood Forestry
Steve Stack:
You mentioned that, originally, Pennsylvania was laden with softwood species.
Amy Shields:
Yes. Hemlocks, conifers, pine, and spruce.
Steve Stack:
When it was devastated, an amazing occurrence happened.
Amy Shields:
Right. The hardwoods were already part of our landscape but weren’t able to flourish because softwood canopies close in and create a dark environment. It devastated our forests, but it also fueled our nation. That’s how our cities were built. Originally, ship masts were taken from some of the tallest softwood trees in Pennsylvania. That’s where the lumber came from that fueled the building of the country. The bark had tannic acid; that’s what was used to tan leather. In the industrial revolution, all of those early machines were belt-driven.
Steve Stack:
Belt-driven, yep.
Amy Shields:
All of those belts required tanning. They were leather. That fueled the industrial revolution in the country. We harvested pretty much everything there was. That left us with hillsides that were barren of trees, but there was a seed source there. There were seeds of hardwood trees that were waiting to come to life. That’s really where the forest you see today came from. That mixture of all the different species that we have in Pennsylvania was all there. They’re all native. That’s really what spawned that change.
Steve Stack:
That connects to Baird Brother Fine Hardwoods. We use a renewable natural resource. Through your programs and affiliations, you take it one step further. Mother nature takes care of herself but through processes and techniques-
Amy Shields:
Management.
Steve Stack:
… and harvesting management, you enhance her work.
Amy Shields:
That’s right. Human interaction is key to a healthy forest. That’s a big part of it. We moved on from that early model of all hillsides being bare of trees. We’re not going to see that again. We’ve learned that lesson. The ensuing 100 years have been about conservation and building a forestry practice built on sustainability and management. That’s a key part of how forestry is practiced not just in Pennsylvania, but in the hardwood forest.
We’re fortunate on the eastern side of this country that if done well and forcefully, we have natural regeneration here. We don’t really need to go out and replant every tree that we harvest. Our forest management processes treat a forest as a garden. Remove trees periodically to thin out the forest and carefully cultivate what’s there. At the same time, planning the forest’s future while growing the raw material source that you can harvest is key.
Steve Stack:
I’ve experienced it. I’ve been in the woods. One time I was out there talking about harvesting and a partner of ours said, “Watch this.” It was a nice, sunny day out, but we were under the canopy. It was a nice, mature tree that had served its purpose and was ready to be harvested. He dropped the tree. As soon as he did, the sky opened and that sunlight came in.
Amy Shields:
Right. It hits the forest floor.
Steve Stack:
It started getting that nutrition down to the youngsters that had come off of that tree.
Amy Shields:
That’s right. Foresters do that when they enter an area. They take a look at the forest floor and make sure they see the beginnings of those seedlings. Then they practice select cutting. That’s where you take out a tree here and there from a larger area. It’s designed to open up that canopy, get sunlight to the forest floor, and help the next generation of trees.
Steve Stack:
It’s all about managing the forest resource. With proper management, the forest gives you better production.
Amy Shields:
That’s right. In Pennsylvania, all of those trees were harvested back in the day. Then all of our new trees grew and got to a certain age. We do have a situation in Pennsylvania where there are even-aged forests. They’re all older. We have some areas with very mature trees in the 80 to 100-year range. We also have a larger swath of forests in Pennsylvania that are in that 50 to 60-year range. But that’s all that’s in those forests. We are working now to create a young habitat. An early-successional forest where we make sure there are young, middle-aged, and older trees all in the same given stand. That’s the best way to create an optimum healthy forest.
Steve Stack:
You have that rotation.
Amy Shields:
It’s a continuous cycle of management, constantly entering and pruning.
Steve Stack:
You may go into a stand of timber and say, “Okay, we’re doing 24 inches and above,” knowing that it has a certain age to it.
Amy Shields:
Yeah, picking a certain diameter limit is generally not what they’ll do to promote a good mix of forest ranges. Even in a situation where they do have a lot of large, mature trees to take out, they’ll leave a few of those. They might not take all of those out because that’s the seed source for the next generation. A tree will eventually stop doing that. Eventually, it’ll be its turn to be harvested as well. But foresters are very in tune with making those decisions and making sure we have a good mix of age classes.
Steve Stack:
Mother Nature has seen to it that the hardwood species will self-regenerate and repopulate. That’s amazing in and of itself. I think it’s even more amazing that one of the primary services trees give us while they’re alive is fantastic air quality.
Amy Shields:
That’s right. This is a hot topic at the moment. Everyone’s talking about the climate and how forests play a role in climate change. That’s another reason why it’s really important to focus on a mix of young, middle-aged, and old trees in a forest stand.
There’s a difference between sequestering carbon (pulling the carbon out of the atmosphere) and storing carbon (being stored in the cells and not going anywhere). Young trees actually pull more carbon from the atmosphere as they grow. The older they get, the cycle of pulling carbon slows down and they just become carbon storage. A tree left to stand without being harvested or utilized will eventually fall over. When they fall over, their carbon goes back out into the atmosphere.
Good forests are great in the climate and carbon-cycle conversation. We are working towards understanding the optimal mix of young trees for sequestration and older trees for carbon storage, then harvesting those trees at a certain point so that we can make long-term carbon storage out of the produced goods.
A wooden bench is storing carbon, and it will be there for a long time. If the tree that made this bench just fell over in the forest and degraded, its carbon would’ve been released back into the atmosphere.
Steve Stack:
Then it becomes a detriment.
Amy Shields:
Yep.
Steve Stack:
That’s it. That tree lives on in a product for a long, long time.
Amy Shields:
As long as your studio desk is here. Yep.
Steve Stack:
Yeah. You’re using this carpenter’s bench (our interview desk) as a visual aid. It dates back to 1890.
Amy Shields:
Yeah, and it’s still storing carbon.
Steve Stack:
There are long-term benefits to harvesting and utilization.
Amy Shields:
That’s right. That’s the mix that carbon programs hone in on. We’re working on creating forests with a mix of young, middle-aged, and old trees but we also recognize how long-term carbon storage of a produced good is a valuable part of the carbon conversation.
Steve Stack:
Proper forest management benefits us as humans but also benefits wildlife.
Amy Shields:
Yep. Young, middle-aged, and old forests provide habitats to certain creatures all along the way. Some people will walk into a mature forest and think it’s healthy because it’s a bunch of tall, straight trees. But they won’t see anything in the undergrowth. That’s actually not a healthy forest. One of the big focuses currently is that an old forest is actually a very poor habitat for songbirds. Songbirds need early successional. They need young trees and young brush in order to flourish in an area. But other creatures might need an older forest. Some thrive in an old-growth habitat. But interestingly, they might feed in a young successional. So they need a young forest next to them.
The same is true when you see a timber harvest. When some folks see treetops left in the forest, they think that’s a bad thing. However, treetops create protection for the seedlings so that they’re not eaten by deer, but it also provides habitat and coverage for turkeys, grouse, woodcock, bunnies, and other small creatures.
Steve Stack:
I’ve witnessed that with the beech tree. Beech trees are a turkey’s best friend. The mature tree drops seedlings. In the spring, when those seed pods start to sprout, the turkeys go crazy over them. After they’ve had their fill, where do they go back to? They go back to that mature beech tree and use it as a roosting tree.
Amy Shields:
Yeah, that’s right. A healthy forest with diversity is a huge factor in the kind of wildlife and birds that we see in the Pennsylvania forests, too.
Lumber Industry Educational Programs
Steve Stack:
Let’s talk about some of the other educational projects that you folks take on. I know a few like the paper-making projects, the tree cookie, and the forest of many uses.
Amy Shields:
Okay. When AHUG partners with the WoodMobile, we generally do some stations for students when they come in. We have a couple targeted toward elementary-age students in grades three to five. We use a program called Project Learning Tree. Project Learning Tree has about 96 different activities for kindergarten through 12th grade about the forests themselves, the forest products industry, and about the jobs and careers available.
One we do pretty regularly is called Forest of Many Uses. In that one, the kids all become individual trees in the forest. We put them all in a group standing up. We walk through them and sprinkle yellow, blue, and green construction paper for sunlight, water, and nutrients. We sprinkle those around and tell the kids, “When we say go, grab as much of the sunlight, water, and nutrients as you can without moving your left leg. You have to keep your tap root still.”
When they do that, most of them don’t get enough water, they don’t get a lot of sunlight or they don’t get many nutrients. Then we’ll talk about how a forester can come through an area and help a forest landowner figure out how to thin or manage their forest. We’ll tap a few of the kids on the head and tell them they’re going to head to the log truck. That allows us to talk about what happens to the logs that went to the mill.
Then we go back through and do the same exercise. Now they’re able to gather more sunlight, water, and nutrients. It’s a really great visual of how thinning a forest is a good and helpful thing. We talk about why we leave certain trees along this imaginary stream. We want to make sure that the canopy stays over the stream and keeps the water cool. After all, the fish need to be able to thrive. All in all, it’s a really good visual for the kids. They enjoy that one.
Another one that we do is Tree Cookie. We’ll take a slice off the end of a couple of logs and take them into the classroom. We talk to the kids about how trees grow and how they add growth rings. We talk to them about how their own food source moves in the body of the tree, the phloem, the cambium, and all of that stuff. Then we’ll count the growth rings. We’ll have the kids actually mark on that tree’s lifeline where different things happened. How old was this tree when you were born? How old was this tree when something significant happened in your community? It really builds a connection to the students that these trees are here and came from the community. Our forests are a living, breathing piece of our community.
We do those programs for elementary students. We also do career fairs for all age groups talking about all the different careers available in the hardwood industry across the state. We have a couple of community colleges in our area, so we’ll provide industry connections to speak on subject matters from careers to invasive species, or whatever subject matter that they might be looking for. We do a fair amount of that outreach, too.
Steve Stack:
It’s very similar to our local Home Builders Association (HBA). The HBA is there for construction industry individuals, whether by education or career opportunities. You haven’t mentioned it yet, but I know you also represent timberland owners and forest managers at both the state and federal levels.
Amy Shields:
Yep.
Steve Stack:
When the circle comes back around, you represent those property owners. You’re going to bat for them with the big boys.
Amy Shields:
That’s right. One of the mandates for AHUG is to provide representation for the industry. Our industry is very segmented. There are a lot of small businesses from loggers, landowners, land managers, sawmills, and secondary manufacturers. They don’t all have time to advocate for themselves, but they have needs. We do a lot of legislative interaction and take legislators out on tours to inform them about forest practices. We also take the needs of workforce development or environmental regulation from our companies to the legislators.
We’re a regional organization. I cover the 14 counties of northwest and north-central Pennsylvania. We’re one of three hardwood utilization groups in Pennsylvania. We work hand in hand with the Pennsylvania Forest Products Association, which I believe Baird Brothers is also a member of. They are state-level advocates, but we do a lot of work with them.
On the federal level, we’re very fortunate to have a great relationship with one of our US representatives, G.T. Thompson, who’s actually on the Agriculture Committee for the House. That’s a key connection for us on the federal level.
In that work, AHUG’s been fortunate to be part of a national-level consumer awareness program called the Real American Hardwood Coalition.
Steve Stack:
That’s something to look forward to. We’ll definitely want to keep an eye out for that. You and your organization are the boots on the ground working with the people managing the forest. You’re educating and consulting them on proper management. Then you’re their advocate and voice, right?
Amy Shields:
Right.
Professional Forester Safety and Procedures
Steve Stack:
Somewhere along the line, safety and procedures have to come into play. The forest has been managed, now it’s time to harvest. From the loggers to the sawmill, and then from the sawmill to Baird Brothers. Do you have any safety programs?
Amy Shields:
We do. In Pennsylvania, the biggest logger safety training program is called the Sustainable Forestry Initiative of Pennsylvania. Sustainable Forestry Initiative is a North American forest certification program, but each state has an implementation committee. Our state implementation committee is deeply involved in logger training. It also extends beyond loggers. It includes loggers, foresters, truck drivers, and a lot of folks in that primary processing capacity.
There are about 900 card-carrying, fully trained safety-certified hardwood professionals through the SFI program. AHUG works with them to put training programs on. Actually, we have one coming up next week in first aid and CPR. But they’re also trained in chainsaw safety. We had a program earlier this week on rural trauma survival for a logger. It was about how to care for yourself in the event of a catastrophe until help gets to you. We do an awful lot of work with SFI and the logging community.
Steve Stack:
That’s interesting. There are inherent dangers in our industry, but if you can present it to someone enough, it’s there.
Amy Shields:
It’s there. That safety record is a big part of what the workers’ compensation rates are for the logging community in Pennsylvania. That’s another big area we’re emphasizing. That takes us across the gamut of safety training and legislative connection as we work on those things.
Steve Stack:
You have this organization (AHUG), your 14 counties, and partners throughout the state in other regions. Do you see the same type of organizations in other states in the country?
Amy Shields:
I actually haven’t yet encountered anyone who does it quite the same way Pennsylvania does it with regional organizations. I think there are some regional logging groups here in Ohio.
All of the hardwood states that I’m aware of have something similar to Pennsylvania Forest Products Association in their state-level trade association.
In Pennsylvania, AHUG was the first of those. AHUG started back in the early 1980s when there was a simultaneous need to raise awareness of the quality of Pennsylvania hardwoods, the industry providing them, and their connection to forest health. Because we’re the boots on the ground. That’s how forest management gets done.
At that same time, it was the beginning of the environmental movement in Pennsylvania. My region is home to the only national forest in Pennsylvania, the Allegheny National Forest. We started to see protests to actually stop harvesting in Pennsylvania. In addition to the Allegheny National Forest, the area that I work in has the highest concentration of public land in the state of Pennsylvania. With an industry based there and public land management as a key driver, there’s a need for constant dialogue between the two. The industry gets the resource they need, but the land management folks get the responsibility that they need by managing the forests well.
That was the birth of AHUG, which spawned several other similar hardwood utilization groups in Pennsylvania. Then the Department of Agriculture put an umbrella organization over all of us so that we could function together as a team. That’s how the Hardwoods Development Council came along — where the WoodMobile is currently housed.
Steve Stack:
That’s no small task.
Amy Shields:
It is not.
Steve Stack:
Pennsylvania is one of the largest hardwood lumber-producing states in the United States.
Amy Shields:
Yep. I think we’re the leader in hardwood production and hardwood export. We export over one billion dollars worth of sawlogs and timber products every year. Our industry provides $21 billion worth of direct economic development impact to the state’s economy and $36 billion a year in indirect impact. It’s a huge driver. We are one of the largest hardwood-producing states in the country. The state itself is about 60% forest with just under 17 million acres of forest land.
Steve Stack:
Here at Baird Brothers, we offer the core group of native hardwoods: poplar, maple, cherry, hickory, ash, red oak, white oak, and black walnut. People say, “Well, where does it come from? Where do you get it?” It’s all very closely located to us here in Ohio or Pennsylvania. I tell people, “We’re in hardwood heaven.”
Amy Shields:
Yep. We refer to that area of Pennsylvania as the wood basket. If you look at the map of Pennsylvania, we have a huge chunk of forested area in the upper northwest, north-central region. We have another in the south-central part of the state, and then Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on either side of that. Then we have the northern tier to the eastern part of the state which is also heavily forested. There’s no doubt, you’re right in the heart of it here.
Steve Stack:
Being here in Ohio, we have Pennsylvania to the east, then West Virginia, then Kentucky, then we swing around and catch Indiana. We have a little entrance up into Michigan. If you want some of the premier, high-quality hardwood in the United States, we have access to it: Pennsylvania cherry.
Amy Shields:
Yeah, cherry has always been a bread and butter species for us in Pennsylvania. We’re known as the black cherry capital of the world. Specifically, north-central Pennsylvania has really been a key driver in the economy of our forest for a long time.
Different Species Grow Between California, Oregon and PA
Steve Stack:
Folks may not realize that different species thrive in different regions.
Amy Shields:
Different environments. Yep.
Steve Stack:
Why do they do that? It depends on the mineral content in the soil and the soil conditions. We’re talking about some of the premier cherry lumber in the world.
Amy Shields:
It’s right in our region. One of the other things that AHUG has on its plate is supporting hardwood research and development. Pennsylvania has a PA farm bill. We’ve been really lucky to have that in the last couple of years. It funds a lot of training, research, development and works on the ground.
We were funded for a study about why birch seems to have a heyday in our region. It has become a prolific regenerator in the last two decades. We’re trying to understand why because, at the same time, we’re seeing a slight decline in the quality of our cherry. Not just the quality of it, but also its regeneration. It’s regenerating slower, a little less successfully, and we’re trying to figure out why.
Some things seem to go hand in hand with that. If you look at the map of Pennsylvania, our specific region has had a lot of nitrogen deposited in our soil, which is something that cherry thrives on and that birch hates. The clean air act came to be two decades ago, which had an impact on what happens in the central part of the United States with air quality, soil deposition, and nitrogen in our soil.
Steve Stack:
In the east. Yeah.
Amy Shields:
We believe that has an impact on why we’re seeing cherry decline and birch thrive. That’s just something else that AHUG’s involved in. We get to dip our toes in a lot of different waters out there. It helps us bring a well-rounded host of information back to our companies.
Steve Stack:
Very, very interesting. Folks, if you want to learn more about forestry management and educational programs available from AHUG, what’s the best way for them to get hold of you, Amy?
Amy Shields:
Actually, just go to our website, www.ahug.com. We’re working on building a better site, but it’ll give you the contact information to get in touch with us.
Steve Stack:
Are there any other good resources that people can dive into to educate themselves a little more?
Amy Shields:
Yeah, the Pennsylvania Hardwoods Development Council. If you go to the PA Department of Agriculture, hardwoods development has its own site. There’s some good information there about our industry. The Pennsylvania Forest Products Association is another. That’s really our state trade association, so they have a lot of great info about who the players are in the hardwood game in Pennsylvania.
We’re also very fortunate to have Penn State in our pocket. We do a lot of work with Penn State Extension. They have an amazing website that’s just filled with information on timber management or how to have a timber sale on your property. It also has information on spotted lanternflies and all of the various invasive pests and plants creeping into our wheelhouse in Pennsylvania. All of those are really good resources to check out.
Steve Stack:
Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you enjoyed this today. We’ve had a great visit from Amy Shields, executive officer of Allegheny Hardwood Utilization Group.
Amy Shields:
Yeah, thank you.
Steve Stack:
It’s been our pleasure having you today.
Amy Shields:
Thank you.
Steve Stack:
Don’t be a stranger. For now, I’m Steve Stack from Studio 3B. Stay tuned, stay up on the socials, and we’ll see you soon.
For all you folks listening, thanks for talking shop with Baird Brothers Fine Hardwoods. If you’ve enjoyed this episode and wanted to stay up-to-date with the American Hardwood Advisor podcast series, give us a like and subscribe. For more tips, DIY projects, and inspiration, check us out on Facebook, Instagram, read our tweets, or visit bairdbrothers.com. Until next time.
