Old Growth Fir Log

[hobbyheater]

big old cedar in the North Cascades near Ross Lake.

That is one very impressive tree! Looks as though there could be a bear den in the root!



This area was logged in the 40s. In the picture is the older brother that I hike with.

 

[begreen]

That looks like a very old one. This region had giants so thick that in some areas a man could barely fit between them. Now most are logged off and second or third growth has replaced them. Where we live the whole area was clear cut for ship building. In particular, the local firs made good masts.

 

[Lake Girl]

The Douglas Fir is one of the trees that requires a fire to open its cones. In the 60s, the practice of slash burning was very common; mainly to get rid of the debris left in the clear cut as a method of fire control. But as a rule, these fire burned much hotter than a natural wild fire and would often burn the thin layer of top soil that clings to these steep side hills. Also the technology of yarding the logs has also changed. In the days of men manually setting a choker around each individual log, very little brush was yarded to the roadside with the log. When the choker was replaced by a grapple, much more debris arrived at the road side and now in many areas, big backhoes on tracks forward the logs to the road side breaking up the limbs. So the need to burn the whole area has been diminished. Just the areas by the roads where the greatest accumulation of the debris is stacked is burnt when the surrounding area is wet, usually in Nov.

This one of the roadside debris piles that a friend of mine is having some fun getting a firewood log to the splitter.

Studies in the 70's showed that mechanical scarification of site is better than slash pile burning (opens serontinous cones); slash pile burning better than other methods or no site prep for regeneration. Hubby used to use skidder with chockers when logging in the early days of marriage (winter job - commercial diver in spring, summer, fall).

Glad to hear debris used for home heating BTUs

Logging operations can keep dollars local if there are value added industries to support it... sawmills cut dimensional lumber, lumber used to make framing trusses or pre-fab homes. Pulp from poplar to make paper and fibre board. Over a 100 years of history in our area that is only now struggling due to decline in building and paper demand (dang computers).

Slave Lake would not agree that wildland fires is the way to go

 

[hobbyheater]

This valley bottom was logged in the late 60s.



I operated the loader that loaded the old growth in this setting in the fall of 1979. The second growth is really coming back.

 

[hobbyheater]

The following pictures are taken on top of the ridge across the valley just above the right hand corner of the highest slash!


Last time we were up here was 25 years ago. It used take 4 to 5 hours to hike to this point, now just an hour.


Miniature alpine !


We discovered this little jewel from some 40 years back when our hobby was flying.


Rat Terriers' first venture into the alpine and it even rained a bit. Surprisingly it did not bother them at all.



This area was loaded with ripe low bush blue berries and the pack did a lot of grazing.

 

[DevilsBrew]

My dad was with a group of owners that refused to clear cut. Times have changed and money rules. I still get the Healthy Forest lecture once a year.

 

[hobbyheater]

My dad was with a group of owners that refused to clear cut. Times have changed and money rules. I still get the Healthy Forest lecture once a year.

On the steep side hills pictured across the valley, it is some very good size timber with very little understory trees. If you were to try and selective log that ground, at the end of 50 years of selective logging, you would end up with a clear cut. Those big trees when they hit the ground, they will not stay in one spot on ground that steep.
There are places, if the wood is high quality, they will single stem log with a helicopter. A faller goes a measured distance up the tree and takes the top off and then goes to the bottom of the tree and leaves just enough wood holding that the tree still stands but when the chopper gets a hold of the tree with the grapple, it will break off at the stump and be flown to a landing.
The area across the valley is hemlock and balsam fir which is a low grade wood and would not pay the cost of the chopper.
Next time I'm up in that area, I will take some pictures for you.

 

[DevilsBrew]

On the steep side hills pictured across the valley, it is some very good size timber with very little understory trees. If you were to try and selective log that ground, at the end of 50 years of selective logging, you would end up with a clear cut. Those big trees when they hit the ground, they will not stay in one spot on ground that steep.
There are places, if the wood is high quality, they will single stem log with a helicopter. A faller goes a measured distance up the tree and takes the top off and then goes to the bottom of the tree and leaves just enough wood holding that the tree still stands but when the chopper gets a hold of the tree with the grapple, it will break off at the stump and be flown to a landing.
The area across the valley is hemlock and balsam fir which is a low grade wood and would not pay the cost of the chopper.
Next time I'm up in that area, I will take some pictures for you.

The pictures reminded me of my dad and his lumber business is all. It would be cool to see your pictures.

 

[ScotO]

Love the pics and the stories with them, Hobbyheater! Keep 'em coming....