T H E B E D E L L T O N E W O O D C E R T I F I C A T I O N P R O J E C T

GUATEMALA

Traveling to the Mayan Biosphere in northern Guatemala, Bedell established a partnership with Custosel, a conservation cooperative that selectively harvest Honduran mahogany, insuring sustainability while supporting the livelihoods of the 85 families living near & among the forest. Supported by the Rainforest Alliance, FSC, CATIE, & other forest stewardship organizations, Custosel individually harvests old-age mahogany trees & traces all the wood supplied to Bedell back to the individual tree.

MADAGASCAR

Due diligence of the Madagascar rosewood trade uncovered a total decimation of the rosewood forests and illegal harboring and exporting of Madagascar rosewood even though there is a worldwide supported CITES imposed total export ban. Following his trip to Madagascar, Tom Bedell committed to using no wood products from this impoverished nation until governmental corruption is ended and new sustainability practices are put into place and enforced.

HAWAII

Visiting The Big Island in Hawaii, Tom joined Jorma of Winkler Woods to locate dead koa trees for his guitars. It is impressive how the Hawaiian government is enforcing permitting and harvesting controls to protect the endemic koa forests that thrive between 300 and 7,500 feet above sea level on the Hawaiian Islands.

TILLAMOOK, OREGON

We don’t need to travel to the far end of the globe to source the finest, sustainably harvested tonewoods for our instruments. For two decades Cyril Jacob has been rescuing tonewood-quality trees from going to waste, either from rotting on the forest floor, or from being processed into garden mulch or firewood. All of our big leaf maple and walnut is salvaged or individually harvested in our home state of Oregon and is as important ecologically as any of our tonewood projects.

D O I N G T H E R I G H T T H I N G N E V E R S O U N D E D B E T T E R

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S E B A S T I Ã O S P I E K E R M A N N

SOUTH EAST ALASKA

It is a crime that the US Forest Service allows the clear-cutting of 1,000 year old-growth Sitka forests. Bedell Guitars has joined with Brent Cole of Alaska Specialty Woods to salvage dead 4-600 year old Sitka trees and turn them into music wood. Each salvaged tree is marked for it's location and every tonewood set is traceable back to it's tree.