Drive any road out of Leakey and you will see it: dense, dark-green juniper (Juniperus mexicana) closing in on the rangeland. Across much of the Hill Country it has spread into open rangeland, and landowners clear it.
That cleared wood is where our Texas cedarwood oil begins. It comes from rangeland within about 60 miles of our plant.
Why the land is cleared
Mountain cedar is native to Texas, but today it covers far more of the Hill Country than it once did. Periodic grass fires used to keep it in check. From the late 1800s, heavy grazing stripped away the grass that carried those fires, the soil eroded, and cedar spread across open rangeland (Hill Country Alliance).
Landowners clear it for several reasons:
- Water. Dense juniper changes how rainfall reaches the ground. In Texas A&M studies, about 20 to 34 percent of annual rainfall reached the mineral soil under Ashe and redberry juniper, compared with about 82 to 89 percent under bunchgrass and shortgrass. The effect of clearing on any one property varies.
- Grass. Thick cedar crowds out the native grasses that feed livestock and hold the soil in place.
- Wildlife. Some landowners open up dense stands to create a mix of grassland and woodland habitat.
Good management is selective. Mature oak-juniper woodland is nesting habitat for the endangered golden-cheeked warbler, so those stands are left standing.
From cedar choppers to clearing crews
After the Civil War, families from the Appalachian mountains settled in the hills west of Austin and made their living from cedar. These "cedar choppers" cut fence posts for Central Texas ranches, which valued mountain cedar because it lasts. A skilled axman could cut up to 200 posts a day. They also sold cedar to Austin households as firewood for heating and cooking (KUT).
By the mid-20th century, steel T-posts were replacing cedar posts, and bulldozers were clearing rangeland faster than men with axes. The cedar choppers' way of life faded (Texas Highways).
Today the clearing is done with machinery, and the wood that once became fence posts comes to distillers like us.
Bought direct
We buy the wood direct from about fifty independent landowners and haulers, and we pay on delivery.
Distilled in Leakey, Texas
Both our cedarwood oils are distilled at our plant in Leakey, Texas. We run our own continuous process alongside classic batch stills, so formulators can choose the profile they need: a remarkably consistent oil, or the traditional Texas profile.
After distillation, about half the spent wood fuels our biomass boilers, and the rest goes on to garden mulch, landscaping and animal bedding.
Further reading: Thurow and Hester, How an increase or reduction in juniper cover alters rangeland hydrology (Texas A&M). The full list is on our Sourcing & Sustainability page.
