Landforce

Another certification in the books! Our Crew Members recently completed one of Landforce’s eight core certifications: OSHA 40 HAZWOPER.

The training was led by our own certified trainer and Director of Land Stewardship, Thomas, giving Crew Members the opportunity to learn from someone who understands firsthand how these skills are used in the field.

HAZWOPER stands for Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response. Through this training, Crew Members learn how to recognize potential hazards, work safely around hazardous materials, respond to emergencies, and protect themselves and others on potentially contaminated worksites.

But earning this certification is about more than completing a course. OSHA 40 HAZWOPER is an industry recognized credential that Crew Members can carry with them beyond Landforce. It strengthens their resumes and can help open doors to careers in environmental work, infrastructure, remediation, and other fields where safety training matters.

With another certification earned, our Crew Members are continuing to build their skills, strengthen their resumes, and prepare for opportunities beyond Landforce.
Congratulations to our Crew Members on this accomplishment! 💚

Sometimes the best classroom is the trail. 🌳🍄 Environmental education is an important part of preparing Landforce Crew Members for the projects they will take on throughout the year, and our community partners help bring that learning to life.

Our fall cohort recently joined the Allegheny Land Trust education team at Dead Man’s Hollow Conservation Area for a morning of exploring the local ecology and learning how that knowledge can be applied to their work in the field.

As we hiked the Cool Spirit Trail, Crew Members learned about everything from mushrooms and moths to birch trees, bugs, and the many relationships that help an ecosystem thrive.
And they will have an opportunity to put that knowledge to work.

Allegheny Land Trust recently acquired an additional parcel that expands the conservation area from approximately 450 to 460 acres. Our Crew Members are excited to help care for the newly protected land by clearing invasive plants and supporting its long term health. Experiences like this help Crew Members better understand not only how to complete environmental projects, but why the work matters.

Thank you to Allegheny Land Trust for sharing your knowledge, welcoming our Crew Members, and helping prepare them for a successful year of learning and working outdoors. 💚

A healthy urban forest doesn’t happen with planting alone. Young trees need years of care and that takes having people with the skills and experience to do the work. 🌱

Each year, Tree Pittsburgh provides seasonal care to at least 2,500 young trees and structurally prunes at least 900. Our partnerships with Landforce, the Student Conservation Association, and Bidwell Training Center help us care for those trees while giving people hands-on experience in urban forestry, horticulture, landscaping, and conservation.

We're grateful to these partners for helping people build real skills while making sure young trees get the care they need to thrive. The bonus? Healthier, greener neighborhoods across Pittsburgh.🌳

Building a stronger green workforce and growing a healthier urban forest can happen at the same time. 💚

What can you do with sawdust from the Landforce Responsible Wood Products Mill? Turns out, quite a lot. 🪵🔥

Local ceramic artist Dusty Williams recently used sawdust from our Mill to fire ceramic pieces made with clay sourced from right here in the Pittsburgh region.The process, called sawdust firing, involves layering completely dry clay pieces with sawdust inside a brick enclosure. Once filled, the sawdust is lit from the top and allowed to slowly smolder for about 8 to 10 hours.

As the sawdust burns in a low oxygen environment, the heat hardens the clay into durable ceramic while the smoke and carbon create the dark tones and unique color variations across each piece. The result is a finished piece shaped not only by locally sourced clay, but also by locally sourced wood material.

For Dusty, our sawdust was a perfect fit for a process rooted in using materials found close to home.We love seeing materials from our Mill take on a new life in unexpected ways, especially when they can support the creativity of other people in our community.
Dusty is also sharing his knowledge with others through a Wild Clay workshop at Eberle Studios, where students learn how to source and process clay from around Pittsburgh and turn it into their own ceramic pieces.

Thank you, Dusty, for giving our sawdust a creative new purpose and for sharing the process with us! 🪵🏺

You can see more of Dusty’s ceramic work on Instagram at .

Lytle Land is a neighborhood parklet in Hazelwood that provides young children and families with a playground and community gathering space. Created through the efforts of residents and community organizations, the space transformed formerly vacant properties into a place for the neighborhood to come together. 🌱

Our Crew Members recently worked throughout Lytle Land to care for the playground, planting beds, rain gardens, landscaping, and surrounding trees.

Their work included weeding and clearing overgrown areas, pruning bushes along the playground path, replacing damaged playground barriers, and refreshing the playground with new mulch. Crew Members also cared for trees around the parklet by adding mulch, cutting back suckers, and clearing invasive plants and overgrowth from tree cages.

Projects like this are about more than maintaining a landscape. They help ensure that community spaces like Lytle Land remain safe and welcoming places where children can play, families can gather, and neighbors can enjoy the outdoors.

Thank you to Hazelwood Initiative, Inc. for investing in the Hazelwood community and giving our Crew Members the opportunity to put their skills to work while caring for a space that means so much to the neighborhood. 💚

This week's Golden Shovel Award goes to Cage! 🪏

Cage received the Golden Shovel in recognition of his hard work, positive attitude, and the energy he brings to the team each day.

Join us in congratulating Cage on this well deserved recognition! 💚 Keep up the great work, Cage! Your dedication does not go unnoticed. Keep shining and keep digging!

🎉 100,000 HOURS! 🎉

We have reached a remarkable milestone: as of last week, Landforce Crew Members have officially contributed more than 100,000 hours to restoring and caring for our region's environment!

This incredible milestone would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our crew members, staff, board of directors, project partners, funders, supporters, and the communities that welcome us and work alongside us. Every hour represents hands-on work, new skills, stronger, safer, and healthier communities, and a commitment to caring for the place we call home.

We are incredibly proud of how far we’ve come and grateful to everyone who has been part of this journey.

Add a comment below to remind us of the role you played in our first 100 thousand! Here’s to the next 100,000 hours! 🌱💚

This week, our Crew Members completed First Aid, CPR, and AED training, earning their first certifications of the training season!

Through hands on instruction and practice, Crew Members learned how to recognize and respond to emergencies, perform CPR, use an AED, and provide first aid and critical care until professional help arrives. These skills prepare our Crew Members to respond confidently and safely in emergency situations, both in the workplace and in their communities.

We’re grateful to welcome back Susan Rahuba, who has led this training with our crews for years. With her guidance, Crew Members had the opportunity to practice these important skills and build the knowledge and confidence needed to respond when every moment matters.

This certification is just the beginning of a training season filled with opportunities for our Crew Members to learn new skills, gain valuable credentials, and prepare for what comes next.

Last week, we welcomed guests to our Responsible Wood Products Mill for two tours of our zero waste sawmill!

Visitors got an inside look at how we recover urban logs that might otherwise be sent to landfills, turned into firewood, or chipped, and transform them into kiln dried lumber and other useful wood products. We also shared how this work supports environmental sustainability, workforce development, and Pittsburgh’s growing circular economy.

We plan to host mill tours quarterly, so there will be more opportunities to visit! If you’re a woodworker, maker, tree care professional, or simply interested in learning more about Responsible Wood Products, reach out to our Communications Manager, Elijah, at [email protected] to be added to our distribution list for future tour dates!

Our fall cohort has officially started tool training!

Guided by Landforce Site Supervisor Rickey, Crew Members explored the tool warehouse and got hands-on introductions to the essential equipment used in our environmental stewardship projects. They learned the proper names for each tool, how to safely start and operate them, and the correct way to hold and handle each one.

This early, practical experience builds confidence, reinforces safety, and creates a shared language across the team. With this strong foundation in place, our Crew Members are well prepared to take on the season’s projects safely, efficiently, and with purpose.