TREE OWNERS NEWS
Summer 1999
This is by far the most exciting time yet here at Tropical American Tree Farms. Our dream, our vision for Tropical American Tree Farms is coming true.
Trees that just six and seven years ago didn't exist, that were only seeds being put into the nursery, are now yielding beautiful wood as we begin our first thinning harvests.
And to create more and earlier value for your trees, and our trees, we are starting a new arm of our company, Raleo Design™, to design, create and market products made from these early thinnings.
And, to top this year off, we have the real possibility of reaching our goal of planting 1 million trees before the year 2000.
So with the hope that you never tire of hearing "thank you", Sherry and I would like to begin this newsletter by again sincerely thanking all of you for your enthusiasm, support, patience and kindness in making all of these exciting developments possible.
Tree owners cooling off by the San Cristobal falls
We have written in our last few newsletters the very good news that our teak is growing ahead of projections and that because of that greater-than-expected growth, we will soon begin an early thinning of the 1992 teak.
In addition to the 1992 teak, Leonardo is now recommending that we also do a thinning this year of the 1993 idigbo and of two species that we have so far grown only for our own account - 1992 suradan, or pilón, and the 1993 and 1994 mangium.
We have completed some test cuttings of our own trees of each of these, and the wood is just beautiful.
The 1992 teak heartwood is a warm honey-brown and the sapwood is a warm cream color, and the wood finishes beautifully. Even if the young teak heartwood is not yet well developed enough for its traditional outdoor uses, both the heartwood and sapwood of this young teak will be beautiful for indoor uses.
The 1993 idigbo is cream to light yellow, takes a high polish and has a translucent quality that causes its appearance to change as you view it from different angles.
The wood from the young 1992 suradan trees is a really beautiful light pink to pinkish cream.
The 1993 and 1994 mangium heartwood is a beautiful black-brown that meets the nearly white sapwood in kind of a starburst pattern.
It seems like only yesterday that we planted these trees. And now it is incredibly gratifying to see and hold in our hands the precious and beautiful tropical hardwoods that they are producing.
Leonardo has completed his detailed evaluation of the 1992 teak and 1993 idigbo and has marked each tree to be thinned now in order to release the growth of the remaining superior trees.
In the next few weeks we will be sending each of you who own 1992 teak or 1993 idigbo a thinning report showing the exact number of trees that he has marked to be thinned.
We have reviewed the trees that Leonardo has marked in the field and have analyzed the numbers. He does all of his calculations based on the desired number of trees to be left standing after a thinning, expressed as a percentage of the original planting.
As an example, if a stand of an original 100 trees has lost 7 trees through normal mortality, and Leonardo determines that the stand should be reduced to 60% of its original density, he will mark 33 trees, or 33% of the original 100, to be thinned.
He determines the desired remaining percentage using a number of evaluations, including the rate of growth, the crown closure, and the basal area per hectare. He chooses the smallest and least desirable trees to be removed and leaves the largest and best to remain for later harvest.
For this first, early thinning, he has determined that the stand density should be reduced by between 35% and 45% of the original planting, including culls and mortality, to leave the remaining 55 to 65 superior trees out of each original hundred trees to continue to grow.
To continue the excellent growth momentum of the superior trees, he also plans to do a smaller, commercial thinning of approximately 15 - 20% in about the ninth year.
The result will be that after this early thinning now and the 9th-year commercial thinning, we will be near the same density that we had projected for after the eighth-year thinning.
To illustrate with numbers, we had projected a mortality and cull loss of 15% and an eighth year thinning of 40%, for a remaining stand density of 45% after the eighth year thin.
In place of the eighth year thin, Leonardo will remove approximately 40% now, including the culls and mortality, and about 15 - 20% in the ninth year, for a remaining stand density after the 9th-year of about 40 - 45% of the original density.
In other words, the thinning that we had projected for the eighth year will now be divided into two smaller thinnings - an early thin now and a follow-up, commercial thin in the ninth year. We expect that the same will be true with all of the teak plantings since they are all ahead of our original projections.
Because our teak growth is ahead of projections, and because the trees that will be thinned in the ninth year will be a good bit larger and yield more lumber than projected, and because of being able to create value for this first, early thin through Raleo Design™, our present estimate is that the lumber and economic yield of this early thin and the ninth-year thin combined will be approximately equal to, or possibly better than, what we had originally projected for the eighth year thin.
So with the added value of creating a market for the early thin through Raleo Design™, we are on target. In fact, if the growth continues to be ahead of projections, the yield from the subsequent thinnings and harvests will likely exceed our projections. That is clearly our objective.
But to not create expectations, we are leaving our teak projections exactly as they have been, except to note that the first thinnings will be between the 6th and 9th years.
Until we actually complete this first thinning, mill the lumber, dry the wood, design, make and market the Raleo™ products, we won't know the actual value of the wood from this early thinning. But because we now have Raleo™, we believe that a reasonable estimate of the value of the wood from this first thinning will be approximately $800 return for each 100 original 1992 teak trees, based upon a price for the wood of about $4.00 per board foot, a yield of approximately 8 board feet per useable tree, and approximately 25 useable trees out of the trees being removed in
this thinning, always keeping in mind that it is the smallest and least desirable trees that we will be removing in this thinning.
Similarly, we believe that a reasonable estimate of the value of the idigbo from this first thinning will be approximately $550 for each original 100 1993 idigbo trees.
We are very happy that our growth is ahead of schedule and that through Raleo Design™ we will be able to create value for this early thinning.
In response to requests from some owners of 1992 teak, for those of you whose trees we are about to thin - the 1992 teak and 1993 idigbo - and who would like to get your yield working for you right away and not wait until we have the trees thinned, the wood milled and dried, and the Raleo™ products designed, produced and marketed, we are willing to accept your wood from this thinning in trade, as credit toward additional trees, using the estimated values above.
If trading your wood from this first thin for additional trees is something that you would like to consider, please let us know as soon as possible. If the response is too great, we may need to limit this offer.
For those of you who may want to consider keeping your wood for your own use, or to sell it yourself, we have been gathering information on the costs of shipping the lumber to the U.S.
Shipping a 40-foot container from Costa Rica to Miami costs between $2,000 to $2,200, and to Los Angeles about $2,500. Depending upon the species and the dryness of the wood, a 40-foot container-load is about 8,000 to 10,000 board feet of lumber, sometimes a bit more. So the shipping costs from Costa Rica to the U.S. for a full container of lumber would be about $.20 to $.25 per board foot to Miami and $.30 per board foot to L. A..
The additional overland freight costs within the U.S. will depend upon the final destination of the shipment.
For less-than-container loads, for example in shipping the estimated 200 board feet of teak that may come from this first thinning of an original 100 1992 teak trees, the shipping costs to Miami, even in this small of a shipment, will still be only about $1 per board foot - incredibly inexpensive when compared to the retail cost of teak of $15 to $30 per board foot in the U.S.
Because Costa Rica is part of the CBI, or Caribbean Basin Initiative, there are no customs or import duties or tariffs for importing any products or items produced in Costa Rica into the U.S.
In our last several newsletters we have written that our teak is growing much ahead of projections and, as a result, we will be doing early thinnings.
The conventional thinking is that the wood from these smaller, younger trees being removed in an early thinning has little or no commercial value. And that is what we have written in our recent newsletters. But we also told you that we would surprise you if we could.
Well, Sherry and I are never content with "conventional" thinking. And we both hate to waste anything. So we test-cut some of our own trees, milled the wood and made some prototype products from the wood from the thinning. Although the boards are obviously smaller, because the trees are smaller, the wood is absolutely beautiful. Even though the teak for example may not yet be durable enough to use for outdoor furniture because the heartwood may need a year or so more to develop, the wood is just beautiful.
So we are forming a new arm of our company, called Raleo Design™, specifically to design, produce and market items made from the parts of the trees that in the conventional lumber trade would be considered non-commercial, such as the trunks or stems from these early thinnings, the branch wood from later harvests, and even possibly the larger roots. This is an example of our very first Raleo™ products.
Our first Raleo™ products
We will begin with small items, like the turned wooden pens in the photo, wooden paperweights, trivets, frames and other items. After we have more experience, we will begin to produce furniture made of these beautiful exotic tropical hardwoods.
Our hope is that we can develop Raleo Design™ to the point where it can utilize all of the wood from the early thinnings from Tropical American Tree Farms™ and then from neighboring plantations as well.
We don't yet know what all of the Raleo™ products will be, nor the time required to design, produce and market them, nor yet exactly the value we will be able to generate.
But we are really excited about Raleo™ because it will mean an earlier, and likely a greater, return to you as tree owners. And utilizing more of the wood from the farms fits exactly with our desire to not waste anything.
And at the same time, Raleo™ will provide additional employment in the surrounding communities. We already have five people working, producing prototypes, in our new workshop here on Campo Real.
We are now in the process of acquiring additional equipment and will soon be ordering a bandmill to custom mill the small logs right here on the farm. Having our own bandmill will allow us to reduce the milling costs, increase the milling efficiency, and maintain close control of the quality.
We will also be setting up drying facilities to dry the wood for top-quality furniture.
In August, we will be interviewing industrial designers to focus on designing products made from these younger trees for export to the U.S. and Europe.
Sherry has designed a small card that will accompany each Raleo™ product explaining the philosophy behind Raleo™ and the origins of the wood in the product.
At the same time, we will be setting up our marketing program to market the Raleo™ products.
We know that among you, now nearly 3,000 readers of this newsletter, and 4,000 visitors per month to our website, there is an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience, especially since many of you work with wood or are in the wood-related industry. So we openly invite you to send us any ideas or thoughts that you may have about possible Raleo™ products, design ideas, production suggestions, equipment recommendations, or marketing ideas.
Sherry and I want Tropical American Tree Farms™ and Raleo Design™ together to be a resounding success for all of us, and a model to lead the way in helping to slow tropical deforestation by using only what we produce, and producing it as efficiently and profitably as possible.
A dream . . .
A seed . . .
One million trees . . .
Reclaiming deforested lands . . .
Protecting rainforests . . .
Rebuilding natural habitat for birds and animals . . .
Providing jobs . . .
Making a difference.
Tropical American Tree Farms™ and Raleo Design™ working together to provide you with beautiful products lovingly made from precious tropical hardwoods grown on our tree farms in Costa Rica.
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Steve and Sherry Brunner, founders of Tropical American Tree Farms™ and Raleo Design™, had a dream . . . to build a business based on God, good stewardship, and the combination of profit with care for the environment.
You are holding that dream in the palm of your hands.
It started with a single seed, planted in previously deforested land in rural Costa Rica in 1992.
Today, we and our tree owners have planted nearly one million tropical hardwood trees and are grooming them for harvest. We are carefully protecting over 3,000 acres of tropical rainforest on our farms, and are allowing another 1,200 acres of steep hillsides and stream corridors to regenerate into forest. Each year we give hundreds of Costa Rican school children little trees to take home and plant. Together, we are providing jobs for nearly 200 men and women.
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By buying this lovingly crafted piece, as a thoughtful gift or for your own enjoyment, you, too, are helping make a difference in this world.
Thank You!
"It is our hope that by planting and growing hundreds of thousands of precious tropical hardwood trees and producing beautiful tropical hardwoods that don't have to be taken from the rainforests, and by protecting and extending thousands of acres of tropical rainforest and other natural habitat on our farms, we and our tree owners are doing something beneficial for the world."
Steve and Sherry
Back in 1991, when Sherry and I first began planning to plant tropical hardwood trees as an investment that combined our love for nature with a focus on a scarce resource that is in growing demand, we had no idea that we were also going to be planting and growing hundreds of thousands of tropical hardwood trees for hundreds of other people and companies.
Then, once family and friends began expressing an interest in joining us in planting trees, and people we had never met began to inquire, Sherry and I expanded our vision and set an informal goal of planting 1 million tropical trees before the year 2000. We are now within sight of that goal.
Beginning with our first planting in 1992, we have now planted 845,000 trees over the last 7 planting seasons, an average of 120,000 trees per year.
To reach our goal of 1,000,000 trees before the year 2000, we need to plant at least 155,000 trees during this planting season.
We'd like to ask your help in reaching our goal of 1 million trees. We'd like to ask each of you to please tell one or two new people about Tropical American Tree Farms™.
If they would like more information, please just tell us and we'd be happy to send our literature. Or if they would prefer to visit our website, we now have a much easier-to-remember web address. It is http://tropicaltreefarms.com.
We'd love to plant our millionth tree this year.
Thank you for helping to make this possible.
Even if you have already visited our website, you may enjoy returning. Sherry just completed two new pages to the Photo Gallery with photos of tree owners enjoying their trees and the beauty of the farms, and a new page of birds, animals, flowers and trees here on the farms.
We will work to continue to keep our site up to date, interesting and informative.
And if you have a new e-mail address, please be sure to send your e-mail address to us at either
trees@tatf.com.
We'd love to hear from you.
Five years ago we had the great fortune of meeting Steve and Sherry at the Cincinnati Home and Flower Show. Four years ago we had the pleasure of visiting their farms and seeing the wonderful job they were doing. In February of this year, we had the good fortune of revisiting the farms and seeing the incredible growth of the trees. After viewing pictures in the previous Tree Owners News, we knew that some of the teak trees were doing well, but we did not know how well until we were actually able to see them in person. What amazed us was not only the large teak trees, but
the consistency of all the teak trees. Even more exciting was seeing the growth of the other native species. We felt that our children and grandchildren would benefit from the growth of the native trees rather than us and we were shocked to see the growth of the native trees. Four years ago we could see over most of the newly planted teak and other hardwood trees. Now, we are looking into forests. One of the most noticeable things is to feel the coolness of the forests that a few short years ago were hot and dry pasture land. Another amazing thing is to see the return of the birds and animals to these areas. During our
last visit we had trouble seeing any toucans. This trip, toucans were all over the farms.
Over the years we have been fortunate enough to continue buying additional trees and therefore, we were able to spend a considerable amount of time on horseback at the various farms. Each and every one of them is doing fabulous. Not only do you see the joy and dedication in the eyes of Steve and Sherry, but you see the pride in the eyes of Beto and all of the workers on the farms. You sense that each and every one of them knows that they are doing something important and that they are respected for their dedication and hard work. It is truly amazing to see the
transformation of each of the farms.
After leaving the farms we visited Wilson Botanical Gardens outside of San Vito. The Wilsons are two people who had a very profitable nursery in Miami, Florida. Many years ago they visited Costa Rica and like Steve and Sherry, fell in love with the country. They sold their business in Florida and moved to a very remote part of Costa Rica to start new gardens. The Wilsons have passed on, but the gardens continue. The Wilsons are now buried in the gardens and their tombstone was very inspiring. I would like to paraphrase the inscription and adapt it to Steve and Sherry
because I believe there is much similarity. "Steve had a dream and with the love of Sherry, they are making it a reality." Dolores & Kevin Kurtz
Dolores and Kevin
Sherry and I again thank all of you for your wonderful enthusiasm, kind praise and constant support. Thank you for making all of this possible and for continuing to share Tropical American Tree Farms with others who may also want to own their own tropical hardwood trees. Thank you!
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