You can always tell when the Black Bear have been after the nutritious beech nuts on a beech tree as the silvery gray looking smooth bark has been quite visibly clawed up. Beech trees at one point in the late 1800's made up to about 40% of Vermont's forestry, but are now considered somewhat endangered due to the "Beech Bark Disease. With that being said there's a lot to say about this Live Edge Beech cutting board. In addition, the Vermont State Bird, the Hermit Thrush, has been drawn and burned onto this board by hand. The cutting board has been hand sanded to a very smooth finish. Multiple applications of Quality, hard Tung oil has been applied with sanding between coats, resulting in a handsome, rustic finish.