Out of the crucible of service in elite combat units, two former special forces warriors have become harvesters of history with their wood recovery and repurposing business.
Former Navy Seal Chris Kelley and former Green Beret Christian Knutzen have traded in their service fatigues for workshop attire with their Three Forks Wood Reclamation company.
The local company sources and collects the beams and planks of structures that have connections to historical places and events or possess cultural characteristics for design projects that preserve the material and maintain connections with its heritage. Wood with an interesting legacy is repurposed for a range of design projects, such as bespoke furniture, architectural expression in luxury homes, corporate offices, hospitality businesses and even museums.
Sources include wooden watercraft, aging estates and even wood from a barn near the site of the WWII amphibious D-Day assault by allied forces along France’s Normandy coastline. As the fighting moved to the countryside, buildings such as the barn at Marmion Farm witnessed the historic operation’s carnage that liberated Europe.
Daily operation of the business means traveling to remote locations, such as Transylvania, to source materials like 50- foot white oak beams, known to the locals as Romanian Sissle, that have been holding a structure in place for more than 200 years.
The task of bringing the treasured wood to the United States involves overcoming things like remote mountain transport and shipping container challenges, as well as meeting strict import requirements.
The story behind the company’s name speaks to a purpose that goes beyond entrepreneurship and is an essential part of each Three Forks project.
“In the mid-’90s, just out of high school, my good friend Fritz and I embarked on a 60-day canoe trip from the headwaters of the Missouri River in Montana — a confluence of three rivers at a place called Three Forks — all the way to North Dakota,” Knutzen wrote in an email. “Fritz was killed continuing this type of raw adventuring in the country of Georgia many years later while I was in the Army, and I wish I had been there for him. While I was able to escort his body back from Tbilisi, Three Forks is an homage to Fritz, his spirit of braving the world and dedication to connecting with people wherever he went.”
You can learn more about Three Forks Wood Reclamation by visiting www.threeforkswoodreclamation.com or calling 844-433-6757.
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