Aerial view of a lush valley with a winding river, surrounded by autumn-coloured forests and distant mountains under a clear blue sky.

Wood for the Future

From trees to tonewood.

At Pacific Rim Tonewoods, we’re not just in the business of cutting and milling exceptional wood.

We're also thinking about the future, now that the forests are played out in many respects. It's a long game, but we believe that growing trees, like we’re doing at Utopia, should be an integral part of our business.

“At Utopia, we’re trying to answer the question: Is figure in maple transmissible? We think it is.”

Finding Value in Maple

Utopia began in 2014 as a research project to grow more valuable wood for both foresters and guitar makers. We were interested in the question of whether figure in wood was genetically caused, and if it were, how we could grow figured trees that would be suitable for musical instruments. Long sought after by luthiers for its beauty, fiddleback maple occurs in rare individuals of big leaf maple, which is native to the Pacific Northwest. We began our program on 74 acres of farmland in the Skagit Valley, by propagating cuttings from trees that exhibited extraordinary figure.

Young maple trees in black pots are lined up in a greenhouse. Lush green leaves contrast with the gravel floor, creating a serene and nurturing environment.

FAST FACTS

Icon of a globe with circular markers, indicating global locations for environmental trials.

3 Sites

For trials

Icon of a winding trail through a forest, symbolizing reforestation and planting initiatives.

8,000 Progeny

Maples planted

Icon of tree stumps regenerating with a leaf, symbolizing diverse tree cultivars in reforestation.

100 Cultivars

Of extraordinary maple

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1-200 Cuttings

Per cultivation

A man in a blue shirt and cap is pruning branches with red-handled shears in a lush, green landscape.

Growing Good Trees

In order to grow good fiddleback maple trees of high value, we need to understand the silviculture of big leaf maple. So, in addition to our trials to determine which lines of trees are the most vigorous and hardy, we’re working to understand how to nurture, situate, space and prune our maples. Our studies and work at Utopia concern the whole life of the maple tree, and will require many years and a lot of resources, but this is a project that we love!

In learning how to grow robust figured maple trees, we hope to chart a path that will lead to more diverse regional forests of greater value, both for their wood and for their ecological functions. Good trees, well grown, in appropriate places.