Owner & Operator
Hi there. My name is Ben, and I’m the owner and operator of Backwoods Forestry And Excavation. I am husband, father to 5 amazing kiddos, homeschool graduate, and Marine veteran. My wife and I grew up in a tight knit homeschool community in WA state. I joined the Marine Corps shortly after high school and married my wife on boot leave. We welcomed our first daughter in 2014. During my time serving as a Marine, we moved around and a lot and as we planned to transition out of military life, we felt lead to settle down in Idaho as soon as we were able to. Shortly after getting out, we welcomed our second little girl into the world in 2018 and kept pushing toward our goal of homesteading in North Idaho. We purchased our first home in December of 2019, welcomed our son in 2020, and made the transition to Idaho the beginning of 2021. We now own a 10 acre off grid homestead in the mountains of Clark Fork, which has been a dream come true. The Lord has blessed our journey here time and time again. I am so grateful to be able to raise my children and work in this community. Until now I have spent most of my time working as a commercial electrician apprentice but felt a need to be able to independently provide for my family. This led us to opening our own business as we continue to grow our family and homestead. I look forward to working with you.
Co-Owner & Secretary
Hey! My name is Cassie (Cassandra), Ben’s wife and mother of our amazing kiddos. I have a passion for homeschooling and homesteading. My favorite pasttimes are working with my guard dogs, milking my goats, and gardening on our property. While my main job is homemaker, homeschool mama, and homesteader, you will see most of my work with our business is behind the scenes. As co-owner and secretary, I will be the one responding to emails, answering many calls, and sending out invoices. It is a joy to work in this wonderful community.
Operations Manager
Josiah Russell is a dedicated professional with a diverse background in military training, medicine, and education. He started his career in the army in 2006 and switched to an instructor at the Army Mountain Warfare School in Jericho, VT, where he taught essential skills for navigating mountainous terrain, including rope work, knots, land navigation, and climbing in various environmental conditions.
Following two deployments as a combat engineer, Josiah pursued his passions in medicine and education by becoming a medic for the Army and working in the private sector. His journey has taken him around the globe, culminating in Idaho, where he lives with his wife and daughter.
Josiah’s experience also includes serving as a logistician at the Baghdad Embassy in Iraq. A family emergency eventually brought him back to Clark Fork, ID, where he began collaborating with his neighbor, Ben Tibbets. With a commitment to integrity and excellence, Josiah continues to pursue his career in forestry management and excavation.
“Backwoods Forestry Mulching is awesome! Ben came to our property and gave us a thorough assessment and estimate, then mulched nearly 10 acres of our forested property in two days. He did it in a way that actually increased the health of our forest, aided our timber management plan and opened it up so we could actually enjoy it. My wife and I found Ben to be extremely up front, hard working and a true expert in his field. If anyone needs a mulching service, we highly recommend Backwoods Forestry Mulching!.”
“We are very pleased with Ben at Backwoods Forestry Mulching! Not only did he come and give us a quote on the spot, he took the time to listen to exactly what we wanted. He offered great advice and feedback on our ideas as well as shared his expertise on the trees and bushes on our property. Ben requested a fair price and really helped us jumpstart outside projects on our new construction home. We will greatly benefit from his advice to create a fire break around our property. He worked fast and efficiently, even fitting us in his schedule much earlier than expected. We will definitely hire him in the future when we need his services again.”
Backwoods Forestry Mulching, located in Clark Fork and serving northern Idaho, is fully insured and provides tree-care services to Bonner, Kootenai, Boundary, Sanders, and Lincoln counties in Montana.
Backwoods Forestry and Excavation in Clark Fork, ID, is a local business that offers quality forestry and excavtion and land clearing services with a focus on brush control and forest maintenance.
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