Making the case for lumber company
Wilkins Lumber Co. is a true throwback.
At 205 years old, and in the eighth generation of family ownership, the Milford company is among area’s oldest businesses, and it maintains the region’s only working sawmill.
The community shouldn’t let it become a lost relic.
Wilkins has struggled for years to compete with larger, commercial companies that provide wood to local chain stores and independent lumber yards. To keep up, Wilkins officials have added a number of ancillary operations, including a shavings mill that cuts logs into horse bedding.
“There’s more demand for bedding to put under horses than there is for lumber,” Sally Wilkins, co-owner and wife of Tom Wilkins, told The Telegraph last week.
Not all hope is lost.
Years ago, many local farms faced similar challenges in the face of wholesale food companies. Now, the shop local movement has given some area farms new life. Many shoppers have moved in recent years toward local growers for produce and other products,
With some community support, Wilkins Lumber could see a similar resurgence.
As with local farms, there is likely a limited audience for local lumber. Wilkins’ sawmill produces rough lumber, unlike the planed wood available at commercial stores, and it doesn’t carry certification from the Building Officials Code Administrators, which is increasingly required by builders and developers.
Wilkins’ wood, which features no harmful checmicals or dyes, is used often for home fixes and restorations. It is locally harvested and cut, and will continue to be as long as the sawmill stands.
The business recently provided conservation easements, far below market rate, on about 520 acres of forest land in Mont Vernon and Amherst. The easements will secure the lands in the years to come from over-development or clear-cutting.
That’s a local movement worth supporting.