The Owners: Bill and Cathy Sayward

Bill and Cathy bring a life long love of the woods and decades of experience in forestry to the management and growth of Itasca Greenhouse, Inc.

For over 50 years Bill has been involved with forestry. In 1958, as a boy he helped his father plant a red pine – white pine plantation on one of their woodlots in Vermont and helped manage the plantation by weeding and pruning it from 1960 – 1974. In addition he did much of the TSI (Timber Stand Improvement), tree planting and forest management over the years on their woodlots. A timber sale of yellow birch, beech, white ash, and sugar maple helped to pay for college bills.

Bill earned his AAS in forestry from Paul Smith’s College, his BS in Forestry and his MS in Forestry (Silviculture) from the University of Maine. From 1969 through the fall of 1974 he worked on a Ph.D. program in forest genetics working with the Eastern White Pine at the University of New Hampshire. While all courses and research were completed, he left to the real world without completing the Ph.D. and continued his education in the school of hard knocks. From 1974 – 1987 he was employed as the Research Forester at the Woodland Division of Georgia Pacific Corp. In addition to building and managing two greenhouse complexes, he was also in charge of the tree improvement program, establishment and management of seed orchards, the spruce budworm targeted suppression program and other forest research.

While a graduate student at the University of New Hampshire Bill met his future wife Cathy. Cathy grew up in Connecticut enjoying her family’s woodlot and hiking around the surrounding area. When they met, she was an undergraduate pursuing a BS in Communication Disorders and was on the Women’s Woodsman Team where Bill was the coach. They met while throwing axes – how romantic! Once Cathy completed her BS at UNH and her MS in Audiology at the University of Connecticut, they were married and moved to the back woods of Maine. Their first home was a small authentic log cabin built around 1900 complete with an outhouse with a picture window, nestled in the Maine woods. (Thankfully the cabin had indoor plumbing!) Within a few months of their wedding they dismantled a condemned 70 foot fire tower on the top of Pocomoonshine Mountain in Maine.

In 1987 they moved to Minnesota (with the dismantled fire tower) where Bill began management of Itasca Greenhouse, which had been established in 1983. In January 1989 they purchased Itasca Greenhouse, Inc. Ten years later they added The GreenWorld Project which had originated in New York several years earlier. During the last 20 years, they have increased the greenhouse growing capacity up to 6 million containerized seedlings per year, in addition to increasing holding, cooler and working area. In addition they have grown The GreenWorld Project into a nationally recognized source for quality promotional and specially packaged tree seedlings.

Since moving to Minnesota, Bill has been active in several professional organizations. He has previously been on the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Forestry Association, and currently is the Chair for the Commercial Seedling Committee of the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association, a position he has held for years.

Bill and Cathy have 71 acres on their homestead in Minnesota, about 2/3 are forested and under a forest management plan. They have also established several seed orchards, and seed production stands for several species on this property and on a friend’s property to produce better quality seed sources for Balsam fir, Fraser fir, some exotic spruces White pine (selected for rust resistance) and white spire birch. One day (in their free time?) they hope to re-erect the fire tower and place a wind mill on top to produce electricity.