A Top Notch Tree Service for the Pioneer Valley!
Meeting the needs of humanity and the environment.
Don’t be shy, get in touch!
We offer free consultations and detailed written estimates for all our work.
Services
Shade Tree Pruning
In an urban or suburban setting, periodic pruning is essential in managing the interaction of trees and the landscape. The way a tree is pruned will have a lasting impact on its growth and development over the course of it’s long life. We may be removing dead or dying limbs, reducing reach or weight towards a structure, improving airflow or light, or simply keeping the tree healthy and vigorous. When you work with us you can be confident you are hiring experienced professionals who are following industry best practices for the health of the trees and your safety.
Ornamental and Fruit Tree Pruning
Proper pruning will keep your smaller trees and shrubs in good health for a long and happy life. Often our goals are to increase vigor, stimulate growth or fruit production, improve structure for the long term, improve aiflow, aesthetics, or just to keep the height and spread in check. Shrubs, ornamentals, and fruit trees can be pruned year round, but the favored time of year is winter, when they are dormant.
Tree Removal
We love trees, but sometimes they need to go. Although we will never push you to remove a tree unnecessarily, at times the best option is to take out a compromised tree which poses a hazard to your family, buildings, or other infrastructure. Or you may choose to remove a tree simply to gain more light, space, or a view. We employ a range of techniques, from precision felling, climbing, technical rigging, and use of our 72’ aerial lift to carefully and safely take down trees of all sizes.
Cabling
Often the weakest point in a tree is where two stems attach, known as a union. This point may be ingrown or cracking and prone to fail under strain such as a heavy snow load or wind storm. Some trees can be supported through the installation of wire cables or rods to act as a brace. Cabling needs to be done by a trained professional as improperly installed cables can harm or weaken a tree; our ISA Certified Arborists can meet with you to help assess your trees for the suitability of cabling, and create a plan to install it properly.
Brush Chipping
Chipping branches and brush is an efficient way to clean up yards as we work, and converts branches and tree tops into a useful product (chips!). A lot of the work we do involves a chipper; we also offer brush chipping as a stand-alone service. Chips can always be dumped on site as we are working for free, we also sell woodchips by the truck load.
Storm Damage Remediation
No one expects a tree to come down on their house or across their driveway, but the unexpected can happen. When you have a tree emergency, it can be scary! You want a responsive, experienced, and safety-oriented crew to show up promptly to take care of it for you. That’s where we come in. For us, storm damage situations are like a high-stakes puzzle, and need to be unraveled carefully and with the proper equipment, so as not to cause further harm. Contact us, we’ll assess the situation and make a plan to remedy it. We can even work with your insurance company to help you navigate a claim.
Planting
We spend a lot of our time cutting down trees, so we love to get a chance to put some back! Give us a call to talk about planting projects—we can offer species and design suggestions, and ensure the trees are planted properly for long term health.
Consulting
We offer a free site visit and detailed written estimate for any tree project you can scheme up. However if you are looking for something beyond the scope of an initial site visit, or don’t have a specific project in mind but just want to get an expert opinion on your trees or landscape, we can help with that too. We are ISA Certified and Tree Risk Assessment Qualified Arborists with lots of experience to share!
Sawmilling Services
We operate a small hydraulicly powered sawmill to make use of the trees we take down as lumber. Depending on the situation we can either bring the mill to your property to mill logs into lumber for your use, or transport the logs back to our location to be milled and returned to you. We also sell a limited supply of pre-cut green and air-dried lumber. We do not purchase logs from tree removal projects or pay stumpage for standing timber.
Our mill handles boards or timbers up to 20 feet long and 23 inches wide.
Click to open our mill information and pricing sheet to learn more.
Wood Products
FIREWOOD—We have a limited supply of cut and split firewood for sale, free local deliveries of ½ a cord or more. We can also bring our high-efficiency splitter to your property to buck and split logs for you on site.
WOODCHIPS—Excellent for gardens and pathways, we sell woodchips delivered by the truck load.
LUMBER— We maintain a limited availability of pre-cut green lumber for sale, typically softwood 1” boards and 2x4”s, sometimes other species and dimensions as well.
Field Mowing
Keep your meadow open, maintain pollinator habitat, or reclaim an abandoned pasture.
It’s best to schedule mowing for early spring, fall, or even winter to avoid disturbing birds and pollinators. To learn more about bird-friendly field management see this publication from Mass Audubon.
Habitat Box Installation
Standing snags and trees with dead wood or a cavities in them are excellent habitat for many bird species and small mammals such as bats and flying squirrels. Unfortunately they can also pose a risk when in close proximity to ourselves and our homes, requiring us to remove this important habitat feature. By installing habitat boxes in healthy trees on your landscape we can help keep our wildlife around even when we need to remove a tree or dead branch to keep you safe.
Habitat boxes are made in-house with our own native lumber. Custom sizes and designs can be made to match specific species needs. More information can be found at Mass Audubon
Forest Management Services
While we are not offering consulting forestry, chapter 61, or logging services at this time, we have the skills and background to tackle light duty forest management activities on larger properties in conjunction with your consulting forester, forest management plan, or NRCS program. Such activities could include small forest thinnings, timber stand improvement, field edge clearing, boundary refreshing, trail clearing, and other woodland services. Contact us for more information.
Our Philosophy
We take a progressive and ecologically-focused approach to our work. You’ll find that we genuinely care about both our clients and the environment. Our job is to manage the interaction of humans and nature. We will never try to “sell” you work, or push you to remove a tree unnecessarily. Rather, we’ll carefully assess the trees on your property and work within your budget to provide authentic recommendations for the best approach to managing them. You’ll find us to be friendly, knowledgeable, and responsive. We love providing our community with high quality and high value services!
About Us
Woodsmith Forestry was founded in 2020 and has since grown to include a passionate and hard-working team!
Based in Montague, MA, along the Sawmill River (otherwise known as the land of the Pocumtuck, or “Hunting Hills,” as it was called by the European pioneers) we work across Franklin, Hampshire, Worcester, and Berkshire counties and beyond.
What are we doing to make a difference?
At Woodsmith Forestry we are passionate about shifting the global context of industry towards a more sustainable and just future. We are always looking for ways to make our business greener and support local initiatives that work on environmental, economic, and social justice issues. Specifically, here are some of the progressive practices we make habit:
We use 20% biodiesel from Northeast Biodiesel in Greenfield in our chippers, aerial lift and tractors.
We use bulk organic canola oil instead of toxic petroleum-based bar oil in our chainsaws (it all ends up on the ground eventually!)
We prioritizing the use of quiet and efficient electric chainsaws over 2-stroke engines. This technology is getting better all the time!
We buy supplies locally and in bulk, when possible, to support the local economy and reduce plastic waste and trucking.
We repurpose all wood waste as chips, mulch, firewood, or lumber. Many of our woodchips go to Yellowbud Farm in Northfield for mulching new trees (complete the cycle!).
We work with our customers to come up with strategies to meet their needs with the greatest environmental benefit in mind.
We minimize fossil fuel usage and plastic in our work in any way safely and efficiently possible, for example only trucking wood away from a site or chipping when necessary.
We make composting and recycling a priority. Compostables are picked up by the Compost Co-operative at our office; we also sponsor compost collection at local events and organizations.
We offer fair and competitive compensation, progressive benefits, a diverse workplace, and a say in the direction and values of the company for all employees.
We offer Financial incentives for employees who bike to work!
We choose to build with wood products when possible, especially by-products, instead of concrete, steel, or plastic.
We prioritize local sawmills over global markets.
The Woodsmith 1% Fund
Tree work is inherently an energy-intensive and extractive industry. Although we do everything in our power to reduce our reliance on non-renewable resources, we are not yet able to entirely decouple our operation with fossil fuels and single-use plastics. The removal of a tree - even a half dead tree that threatens your home - eliminates the environmental services that the tree once provided.
In an effort to address the inherent cost of our industry and support our community, we’ve created the Woodsmith 1% Fund.
We give all customers an option to donate 1% of the final cost of their project. Woodsmith will match this donation to double your impact. This money goes towards a variety of causes to help support the resilience of our local ecology and community. Some examples include:
Sponsoring compost collection at local events and organizations. We have utilized our trucks and labor to collect and deliver compostable wastes at events such as the Leverett Coop, the Berkshire Highland Pentathlon, and the Franklin County Survival Center. Compost is taken to Martins Farm in Greenfield.
Donations to local school school programs such as the Leverett Elementary School Outdoor Education Fund.
Collaboration with the Northern Nut Growers Association, and Perfect Circle Farm to help propagate rare trees.
We are exploring many other new ideas for what to do with this fund, such as partnering with Arbormaster Training and Franklin Co. Jail to provide affordable professional training in the tree industry for those looking to build a new career.
If you’re inspired to make a one-time donation to the 1% fund, we’d love your support, please do so here!
Why Wood?
First and foremost, it’s because we love trees. Healthy trees and forests on our landscape give us many benefits including aesthetic value, temperature control, human health, recreation, forest products, food, medicine, water quality, carbon sequestration, wildlife, plant, and fungi habitat, soil stabilization, wind and noise control, pollination, and air quality, to name a few. Even a small patch of nature behind a house can have a great positive effect.
And wood is a useful, renewable, and ecologically friendly material. Compared to materials such as steel, plastic, and concrete, wood products have a greatly lowered environmental impact--less carbon emissions, less waste, more connection to our natural world, and they decompose!
What do you do with all the wood!? It’s a question we get all the time, and we’ve put a lot of thought into it! All the wood “waste” from our work goes to use. Woodchips are brought to local farms, or sold directly to customers. Hardwood is processed into firewood. Longer straight sections of trees are often suitable for sawlogs, which we either mill in house, or sell to larger commercial mills. Larger “junk” wood is brought to facilities with massive wood grinders (such as Wagner Wood in Amherst) for processing into mulch. Branches can be used as mushroom logs. Even the sawdust and slabwood from our own milling operation goes to use at horse farms and sugar shacks. Our locally produced, up-cycled byproducts support the local economy and environment. And there’s benefit to leaving wood on site as well, serving a crucial role in wildlife habitat, soil health, and carbon sequestration.
At Woodsmith, we have a strong connection to trees and forests, so forestry is the medium through which we have chosen to affect change and growth in the world.
Put our skills to work on your property!
Here’s a taste of what Woodsmith looks like on the ground (or in the air for that matter!) From our bread and butter tree work—felling, aerial lift, climbing, cabling, and pruning—to the out of the box projects such as log seats, outdoor classrooms, and board walks. We love what we do, and we can’t wait to share our skills with you!
Testimonials
Our clients include homeowners, land owners, land trusts, conservation organizations, and schools, among others. Here’s what some of the people we have worked for have to say…
Workshops
Community workshops, trainings, and events.
Woodsmith Forestry Events:
**LISTEN TO US ON THE RADIO!** Every Tuesday around 5:30pm Eric Donnelly talks trees with Joan Holiday on 93.9 The River in our segment “Out on a Limb.” Tune in to catch it live!
Other Community Events:
None at this time.
Careers
Open positions are listed below. In general we are always interested in talking to motivated, caring, fun, and skilled people that may want to join our team. If you like what you see and want to discuss employment at Woodsmith Forestry, please contact us.
Full time employees can expect more than just a competitive paycheck. Benefits of working at WSF include paid holidays, vacation, 401K with match, parental leave, paid sick time, paid trainings, a yearly gear stipend, philanthropy budget, company apparel, 4-day work week, flexible scheduling, personal use of company tools and equipment, and overtime opportunities. As we continue to grow, our benefits package will increase. In addition to our full time staff, at times we also hire for part time and per-diem positions.
OPEN POSITIONS:
Lead Consulting Forester-see job description here.
Woodsmith Forestry is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and encourage women, minorities, and other persons not traditionally represented in the industry to apply.
Contact Us
We make communication with our clients a priority. We try very hard to get back to you within one business day. The best way to contact us is by filling out our contact form. You can also give us a call, shoot us an email, or simply stop by. We look forward to hearing from you! Please note that our office phone number does not receive texts!
Office/Voicemail (413) 367 3161
17 North Leverett Road
Montague, MA 01351
Business Hours: 7:30am - 5:30pm, M-F, and some Saturdays.
We are closed between Christmas and New Years day and on most major holidays.
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We’re not big into social media, but we do like to send emails! Fill out your information to receive periodic email updates about what we’re up to, opportunities to get involved, promotions, workshops, and more. Unsubscribe any time.
