The American Dream

One can only imagine what the first Native Americans thought as they ventured into the new world, a fresh land of formidable timber and a richness of wildlife never, before, encountered.  All the same, must have been the feelings of the first explorers from countries across the Atlantic as they laid eyes on the unprecedented resources the old-growth forests of this new land did offer.  Separated by thousands of years, completely different lexicons, and a horde of other differences that made the individual peoples and their civilizations unique, one thing was constant – the feeling of awe they must have had deep in their gut when first encountering what would ultimately become – America.  And so, it was, with just the thought of a new, un-tamed land, one with “unlimited” natural resources for ship building, homesteading, industrialization, & more, the American Dream was born – even before America itself.

Through the centuries, the wild, un-broken landscape we call home would become subject to parcelization and individual ownerships would form.  Simultaneously, the once-thought boundless supply of woody giants that the native peoples would manage conservatively, became the fuel for industrialization and the exponential growth of our nation.  Where natives would run fire to promote better habitat for wild game, colonists ran saws to build ships, forts, and keep up with the demand for wood products emanating from their homelands where such resources had previously been depleted or never existed to begin with.  As with any goal, objective, or dream, obstacles would arise.  The American Dream was not and is not immune to difficulties.

Even before the influx of settlers from all over the world who had heard about and desperately sought the American Dream, the woodlands that most certainly gave rise to our great nation had become subject to carelessness in our unified effort to tame, cultivate, and develop an otherwise natural land.  Nevertheless, just like a devastating, yet rejuvenating fire can give rise to fresh green growth, our youthful disregard as a nation for the safeguarding of our natural resources gave rise to the practice of conservation.

Today, the American Dream still exists, its entire essence being pride in ownership, charting your own path, and carving out the footprint of your own existence by doing something good with your life.  Most every migrant that came to this great land did so with the mindset of finding a much better version of what they had elsewhere, a much better version of themselves.  Regardless of the path to knowledge and success they took after walking the plank and taking their first steps on American Soil – higher education, apprenticeship, hands-on, in-the-field experience, it was the true grit that can be found within each, and every, good and decent American, that would ultimately define them.  That same true grit and tenacity defines our company.  For us, the American Dream is found somewhere in the weave of family, friends, and the lands we keep.  Whether yours or our own, we are committed to doing everything within our power to keep that dream alive by redefining stewardship and generating a fresh take on conservation and land use that does just as much good for the heart and soul of those who own it, as it does for the land itself.