How many times have you seen a tree being cut down and wondered whether there just might be more to do with it than firewood, mulch or — as is often the case — landfill material? Did you know that many species of eucalyptus and other trees that grow in San Diego County are high value hardwoods that can be used for making beautiful furniture, cabinets, floorings, siding and other wood crafts. According to the U.S. Forest Service, salvaged timber generated annually from tree removals in U.S. urban areas could produce 3.8 billion board feet of sustainable lumber and would greatly reduce the amount of energy and carbon emissions used to transport these products from different parts of the world, while at same time creating green jobs and stimulating our local economies.

Bill was brought up doing simple woodworking with his father and enjoyed the creative process with wood and the fact that the wood often takes a hand in leading the process. He was involved in a large eucalyptus removal project and discovered that many of the trees were being taken to the landfill costing million of dollars. He wondered why eucalyptus is considered a trash tree in the USA, while in other parts of the world there is a huge industry around the milling of eucalyptus. He travelled to Australia to learn how eucalyptus is milled and processed there. Bill has an TimberKing 1400 mill and solar powered wood kiln. When he is not doing his conservation work, Bill spends much of time working with eucalyptus that he has milled himself in his solar powered woodworking shop. Wood has no flaws — only the woodworker can lack a vision.

Starting his career as a wildlife biologist with the San Diego Zoo, Bill Toone studied the endangered California condor and the causes of its decline. That work grew into a conservation program of world renown; and Bill soon found himself featured in newspapers and magazines, sitting next to Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show, and filming wildlife documentaries in the Costa Rican rain-forests with Olivia Newton-John.

But there was more to Bill than being “a media darling.” With his expertise in demand, Bill performed solid conservation work in some of the most remote regions of the world. From Honduras and Paraguay to Cameroon and Papua New Guinea, he not only witnessed incredible wildlife spectacles, but also came in close contact with some of most poor, and poorly understood, populations of people.

Working in Madagascar to help create a national park, Bill’s life took a significant turn while living in the remote village of Antanambao. Bill’s integration into the primitive village was facilitated by his befriending the family of a little five-year-old named Elian; it was a relationship so deep that on Bill’s departure to return home, Elian’s family begged him to take little Elian with him, so the boy could find a better future in the United States – an entreaty which, for several reasons, was impossible for Bill to fulfill. Soon thereafter, both Antanambao, and everyone who lived there, were swept away by the historic Typhoon Hudah.

Bill was shocked to learn that not one of the conservation agencies with which he had worked, in Madagascar and elsewhere, were interested in helping the victims of Hudah. It seems people were not part of their missions. And he understood at that moment the depths to which people and their environments are inextricably joined – that one cannot work to save endangered species, or endangered places, without working as well to protect and improve the lives of the people who live near them.

So Bill created ECOLIFE Conservation, an organization dedicated to a world in which humans and Nature live harmoniously. Bill and ECOLIFE build stoves in remote villages that improve the lives of families and reduce tree cutting for fuel. They install water-harvesting systems, and create programs to help people feed themselves healthy food, rather than plants and animals poached from the forests.

Bill continues to work and study in such places as Mexico, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. And his stories – gathered just this January in an encounter with wild gorillas, or 26 years ago on live TV with Johnny -- delight and thrill audiences. His are presentations that provide insight into our natural world, while taking you on a terrific adventure and offering you hope for a planet in which humans, plants and animals can provide mutual assurance of wellness and security.