Cascade Handcrafted uses selective harvesting when gathering trees for building log homes.

Selective harvesting means choosing certain trees to remove while leaving the rest of the forest standing. It follows good forestry and arborist practices.

This method lets new growth thrive and avoids the damage caused by clear‑cutting.
Cascade Handcrafted Log Homes often works with private landowners to choose trees that have blown over or are leaning after storms. This helps clean up windfall from B.C.’s fall and early‑spring windstorms. By removing only selected Western Red‑cedar trees, more sunlight can reach the forest floor. This gives young trees and undergrowth a better chance to grow.

Selective harvesting also protects mature trees. These older trees help reduce carbon dioxide in the air. In one year, a single mature tree can absorb more than 48 pounds of carbon dioxide and release fresh oxygen.
The next time you take a deep breath, remember the trees that make that possible. At Cascade, we believe in caring for the environment, protecting wildlife, and supporting healthy forests — not clear‑cutting or destroying natural growth.

The logs, with a beautiful late wood finish –  found their way into the projects we’re working on destined for New Jersey,  Ontario and Washington state where it will stand for potentially hundreds of years, rather than being processed to end up in an anomalous lumber rack.

This is Markus Dehaas, the founder and owner of Cascade Handcrafted Log Homes, demonstrating how to hand‑fall a selectively harvested tree using traditional techniques.