Mindful wood, honest work.
Ursa Timber is a small, quiet reclaimed log sawmill operation nestled at the foot of the Southwest Mountains in Central Virginia. We mill trees that have already fallen or needed to come down—yard trees, stormfall, and local removals—and we try to honor each one. The work is part craft, part listening: reading each log, choosing the cut that reveals the best version of what’s already there.
“Measure twice, cut once—then make the offcut into something useful.” — Nick Offerman
What we believe
- Respect the material. Grain, knots, spalting and edges are history—signs of weather and time, not mistakes to hide.
- Enough, not excess. Simple processes, minimal waste, honest pricing.
- Stewardship over speed. Good boards take time to mill and dry. We don’t rush that.
Carbon & care (why our wood is different)
Carbon sequestration is just carbon put away for the long haul. Trees absorb CO₂ as they grow and store the carbon in wood. When a tree is landfilled, chipped, or burned, much of that CO₂ goes right back to the atmosphere. When we rescue local logs and turn them into furniture and architecture, the carbon stays in service—often for decades.
What we do
- Source better. Salvaged, local, traceable logs (yard trees, stormfall, removals)—not commodity imports.
- Track the carbon. Each slab lists an approximate pounds of CO₂ kept in service, based on species density and board-foot volume.
- Dry with care. Air to equalize, kiln to finish—fewer defects, less rework, less waste.
- Use the whole log. We find outlets for by-products to minimize the waste stream and we’re open to creative suggestions.
How we work
- Reading the log. Every face tells you something—stress, figure, intended use. We choose plainsawn, rift, or quartered cuts that respect the tree and the project it’ll become.
- Patient drying. Air-dry to balance, kiln-dry to target MC, because stability beats speed.
- Transparent pricing. Board-foot × clear multipliers (width tier, drying, figure/character, surfacing). No nickel-and-diming—just the math.
- Custom recovery & milling. Have a favorite tree that came down? We can pick it up and mill it to your specs on an hourly basis.
Place, provenance & wabi-sabi
Our lumber carries a sense of place. City shade trees, farm hedgerows, storm-fallen giants—each witnessed seasons, neighborhoods, and people. We keep that story with the wood: where it stood, how it fell, and what we saw inside.
We honor wabi-sabi—a quiet reverence for the imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. A knot where a limb reached for light, spalting from a season of rain, a live edge that still remembers bark: these aren’t defects to erase; they’re details to live with.
What we offer
- Live-edge slabs (matched sets when possible) and select dimensional stock in modest quantities.
- Custom milling & surfacing — flattening, S2S/S4S, and careful prep up to practical shop limits.
- Log recovery — boom-truck pickup when feasible; we’ll help decide if a log is worth saving.
- Arborist referrals — trusted partners if you need a tree safely removed and hope to rescue the wood.
- Project support & education — species advice, layout, glue-ups, finishing guidance; full custom builds with partners when timelines allow.
Working with us
We’re a small shop. If you’d like to visit, see inventory, or talk through a project, reach out and we’ll set a time. Bring your ideas and measurements; we’ll bring coffee and choices.