In the mill shed, two newly planed boards lean against the wall, tangerine yew wood shavings covering the ground below Cheney's boots. The wood is elegant. Its tight grain revealing a long, slow steady life. There is more than a decade in the pale white sapwood alone. This is salvaged wood, picked up from a roadside, in accordance with Ministry of Forests' policy to make fallen yew logs accessible to those who can use them.
Yew wood is considered a gem in wood working circles.
So much so, it has been said a wheel barrow of yew is worth the weight of a loaded logging truck. But, that sentiment doesn't hold true across all circles, for one person's gem may be anothers trash. This quandary of identity is the twentieth century's legacy for the Pacific yew. Prior to the taxol explosion, the yew had been considered a 'trash' tree defunct of commercial timber value. Like other species of contestable worth, yew were destined to the slash and burn piles.