Community-based Timbering Cooperative

Hatfield Union Forestry Association is a small business based in the McDowell County community of Laeger. It was created in 2023 after founders Jonah Kone and Tyler Roberts began talking about the desire to create a sustainable, locally owned timber and lumber business focusing on reinvesting in and revitalizing the county. The company seeks to “eliminate housing insecurity through affordable lumber and timber resources and also to create a sustainable import/export environment that positively affects not only the economy but livelihood of residents in McDowell County and surrounding areas.” Its mission statement is “Through conservation biology, Hatfield Union seeks to develop, empower, and build a network of timber growers, loggers, etc., to provide lumber at a price that is accessible.”

The group’s long-term plan is creating an environmentally friendly and sustainable permaculture operation throughout the coalfields region using a coalition of small, privately-owned land to first harvest timber, then use the freshly cut parcels as agriculture areas for either crops, livestock, berries, or other agricultural commodities. The plan is to rotate sites between member properties, so trees have a chance to regrow and begin the process anew.

This plan (1) works in conjunction with EDGE’s agricultural model and provides collaborative opportunities, and (2) addresses the longstanding issue of irresponsible logging practices in Central Appalachia. The exploitative practice of clearcutting has had devastating consequences for our land and people, contributing heavily to the increased prevalence of destructive flooding.

Hatfield Union Forestry also plans to incorporate itself as a part-member, part-worker-owned cooperative, where customers can obtain a price discount on lumber, and eventually agricultural products, by becoming a shareholder member in the cooperative. This will relieve pressure on housing costs in, as referenced above, one of the country’s most impoverished areas.

They also are looking to cultivate a coalition of private landowners who are willing to collaborate to create a forest management program through the West Virginia Forestry Managed Timberlands Program. The company plans to develop timber leases with the landowners, timber the land, then mill logs on-site into usable lumber for structural repairs. By keeping the process local, the company hopes to provide quality wood products to local residents while keeping costs low and profits close to home. The result of this will not only be economic development, but economic empowerment of the entire community, particularly for those landholders who become part of the co-op.

We first became aware of Hatfield Union’s plan last summer and invited them to be a part of our community visioning session, but due to prior commitments the company’s co-founders, Jonah Kone and Tyler Roberts, were unable to attend. But in the months since then, we have kept in close contact with them, and have worked to strengthen the relationship between Hatfield Union and EDGE. From Below also is planning to facilitate a community gathering at Boyd’s Chapel in Leckie to allow for community members to be introduced to the company’s vision and cultivate community trust and build relationships.

From Below also would like to secure technical assistance for Hatfield Union’s startup. Their biggest needs are the acquisition of land and financial resources to purchase the necessary equipment and other startup costs.