Ep 26 / Jeff Perry, Angel City Lumber

The founder of an innovative lumber yard that primarily sources from naturally felled trees joins us to talk about his relationship with the trees of LA.

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Hey folks, this is the last episode of season one of Ecosystem Member and I don’t think we could end on a better episode.

Our guest is Jeff Perry, founder of Angel City Lumber, a really unique place-based lumberyard in Los Angeles that sources only from fallen trees, trees removed in construction and trees removed due to things like disease in Los Angeles County. And the thoughtfulness in Jeff’s approach to lumber is only part of Jeff’s thoughtfulness as a person.

In this episode, we discuss what it means to not think about our role as humans as stewards or saviors but just one of the gang. We also talk about how industrialized lumber has created separation between us and the trees that for so many of us are fixtures in our lives. And in this way, Angel City Lumber’s approach is helping maintain those connections using technology like QR codes to reconnect a piece of flooring or a board with the tree it came from, and where that tree itself is from.

But this conversation stretches far beyond lumber. Jeff shares his perspective about how - as one of the gang - we need to do more listening and less pontificating, adjusting for our human impulse to fix. His connection with trees goes deeper than lumber, taking time to listen and connect with trees often.

This one is a little bit longer but well worth your time. And check out the piece he wrote for Wonderground after you listen to the episode.

Thanks for listening -

Rick