Valhalla 2018/2019 Timber Harvest Blog
Hart logging showed up on 8/12 and went right to work on the area behind the first bridge [unit3] and building the parallel road along creek.
Working brush invasion on the 3500 seedlings. Using an echo line trimmer with.095 line. Seems to do the trick with minimal labor. Finding 20% are dead. Either planting errors or dead due to the dry spring and summer. Trying to work a bit on trees 2 hr/day everyday. Ordered another 1000 RWC for next winter replant. Finding other additional trees needing flags. Talked to a silviculture guy, Joe Grenhaw about working next year on the big leaf maples and cottonwoods that are coming back at an amazing pace. Expecting Hart Logging to return and begin work on the units 4 and 5 along the creek and final thin of east side of huck hill.
Continuing to groom the roads and trails to recover from the logging.
Tagging all the RWC seedlings with flagging tape so we can see them through the quickly growing brush.
Bought a bottle of crossbow and resurrected our backpack sprayer in preparation for some spraying around the new trees. Brush invasion already starting six months after the clear-cut. This NW overgrowth is unbelievable!
Continued firewood operations for ourselves and others.
Ads on CL and signs on road generated enough interest that 11-12 pickup loads of firewood were taken out.
Continued cleanup and burning of debris. Two main fires one on each side of the culvert.
Planted ryegrass seeds where we felt there should be some additional ground cover. Later we received some advice that grass was not a good idea, attracts voles. But looking back int helped keep some areas from really dryng out and killing the trees.
Worked on extending the spring branch pipeline to an intermediate flat spot 2/3 of the way up huckleberry hill.
Moved some small trees around to fill in bald spots.
Starting to see some serious die-off of the RWC seedlings. Appears our hot and dry spring is taking its toll, along with some possible planting errors.
Ordered 1000 more seedlings. Reopened two branch access roads into logged areas. No commercial interest in the cedar bottoms.
Finished the planting and continuing the cleanup.
Picking up various
logging debris pieces and parts and piling in one of two main burn piles.
Piled good bottoms and tops of fir alder, hem and cedar in piles along
edges of roadway for easy firewood pickup.
Regraded some of the roads and bladed heavy equipment damage to
the road edges
Repaired heavy log truck damage to the "fountain of youth" spring water
system main pipeline, there was a break at a coupling near the culvert.
Placed an ad in craigslist for firewood and one for cedar butts. no joy.
Made a stencil for a sign to place on the road.The sign generated enough interest that we pretty much got rid of all
the firewood laying around.
Met our forester consultant Jim Murphy and Bill Westergreen from ALRT
at Lot 16 and discussed a plan to build a road and cut some or all of
the timber in 2019.
Burned all of the slash piles and scattered burned pieces when out. Built a switchback access/fire road to the top of West side Huckleberry Hill. Stacked some rocks on the downhill edges. Drove to Lacey and picked up 3,500 Western Red Cedar seedlings at the State DNR nurseryPaid three experienced people (plus myself and Jan=free) to plant in 11'x11' spacing in all the clear cut areas. Looks like 320/acre.
Rainy, wet and cold. Hunker down and wait for spring.. Better yet! Go to a sunny, warm place like Arizona!
Logging of the first two units was finished by the second week of December. Slash is piled and Hart Logging burned one big pile the size of a house. The cleanup is about as good as I could expect and we are generally happy with how the project was executed. I enjoyed working with Tim Hart and appreciated his honesty and hard work. Heck, three guys logged about 14 acres in four weeks using three machines. They will be back in July to finish the parallel road along the creek, place the flatcar bridge and thin unit 2. In the meantime we have 3500 western red cedars on order to replant this spring , some roads to build and some more piles of slash to burn.
Logging Co began work at the tree farm. A machine called a Feller Buncher [photo] showed up and was offloaded and immediately began cutting in the first timber unit. By day 5 he was complete with the entire 14 acre 1986 doug fir plantation! On day 3 two additional machines arrived, an excavator with a grapple [photo] and an excavator with a "processor" [photo]. Each one was so large that it came on a wide load trailer with pilot cars front and rear. Each offloaded without a problem except for a temporary blockage of the main twin falls driveway. The next day a skidder with a grapple arrived and the three machines began working together. The skidder would bring logs to the grapple and the grapple would pile them next to the processor. The processor would pick the log up and cut the butt end off and then strip off the branches, cut it at 35 ft and then put it in a pile next to the road, all inone motion.
Selected a logging company and put together a schedule. The plan is to
harvest the 1986 Douglas Ffir plantation this year (October) and
complete the thinning of the 80yr old stand in 2019. The flatcar bridge
will be delivered at the end of October and put on blocks at the popcorn
pond turnaround until low creek levels in the summer of 2019
Two more logging contractors came to the property and walked it with the consultant forester.
9/30 End of the month the FPA (harvest permit) was approved.
Meetings with DNR, DFW and Tribe occurred and conditional approval given to a plan to cross the creek using a flatcar bridge. One logging contractor was invited to look at the potential job. The application was signed and hand delivered to the DNR office.
Consultant made maps of the stands and we agreed on the basics of the harvest, how much, where and replanting. Contacted DNR (department of natural resources) and moved forward with an intent to harvest. DNR forester came up and walked the place with the consultant and made some initial approvals concerning the creek and methods to cross it. Meetings scheduled with DFW (department of fish and wildlife), DNR and Tribe were postponed due to their high summer workload. Consultant put the finishing touches on the application to harvest. It is called a forest practices application.
Walked the place again with #5 and really started to put together a plan that encompassed all parts of my dad's vision and the realities of the 30 yr doug fir plantation. Met two more times and walked the areas for discussion.
Interviewed consultant 5. I liked his ideas and recommendations. I thought they were doable. I thought he was someone whom I could work with. Shook hands on a commitment to hire him to manage all phases of a TBD harvest.
Interviewed professional forestry consultants 2, 3 and 4
Interviewed (by walking around) professional forestry consultant 1. They both had similar but different approaches to our "what should we do" dilemma.
Worked through lists of goals and visions for the tree farm and its future, legacy for the family.
Read and reread through the timber cruise report fromd Earl's estate listing the amounts and types of timber on the 102 acres of land. The report also listed some management recommendations.
Return to timber harvest
Stand Map
Photo walk: Pictures before harvest
Flatcar Bridge
Forest Stewardship Plan
Jordan Creek
Timber Harvest
2008
Game Camera
Tree Farm Home
8/20/19