Sheoga is located in Ohio’s Appalachian forest where nearly all of the timber used in the production of our hardwood flooring is harvested. As a whole, the Appalachian forest region comprises 12 states, 344 counties, and more than 65 million acres and is recognized for growing the finest quality hardwood found in the world. Information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Inventory and Analysis through 2018 for the five states where most of our wood is sourced (Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania) found that there are 1.43 trees growing for every tree that is harvested or dies of natural causes across this region. Some forests in the region are maturing or have been impacted by insects or diseases. Sustainable partial harvesting allows these forests to regenerate healthy trees. The records show that the Appalachian forest region’s timber inventories and acreage have both expanded significantly during the past 50 years. This represents a resource that meets present needs without compromising those of future generations – the very definition of sustainability.
sustainability
in the Appalachian forest
traditional methods
with modern results
Many of our suppliers of hardwood timber are from a large rural Amish community, with some still engaged in the traditions of using horses to transfer logs to the sawmill. This method of log transport minimizes damage to young trees and soil and avoids the use of greenhouse-gas-emitting fossil fuels.
Mother Nature is responsible for air drying our lumber prior to kiln-drying, a process that can greatly reduce energy use and kiln-drying time.
A wood waste boiler fired with sawdust generated as a by-product from our manufacturing process is used to heat over 117,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing and showroom space. Our 220,000 BF-capacity dry kilns derive their heat from the same source, and excess sawdust is sold for animal bedding. Were it not for our wood waste boiler system, our estimated heating oil consumption would be around 250,000 gallons per year.