Apologizes in advance if this is a repeat.
I did several searches.
Has anyone seen John Gault?
Thanks, interesting article, and I haven’t seen it.
Yes. Cause and effect. Drive the loggers out of business and you shouldn’t be surprised if they’re gone when you need them.
The two most dangerous professions in the world are deep sea fishing and logging. Add political correctness to the equation, and you may not see many loggers in the future.
By the way, dead trees, especially trees that have been dead for a few years, are commonly called widowmakers. You never know when a big chunk may break off the top and land on you, while you’re making the cuts to drop it. I’m not sure I’d want to work in a whole dead forest that the forest service and the greenies have been arguing over for years, while they sit there and get more rotten.
What the enviro-wackos have done to our timber industry (includng the closing of mills) is a disgrace. What they have done to fuel forest fires is even worse.
Meanwhile, lumber imports and prices from Canada are at an all-time high.
WIth few exeptions (National Park type properties), the national forests should be privatized to pay off the national debt or turned over to their respective states. There is no logical reason why the Federal Government should own roughly 70% of the land in Idaho and 95% of the land in Alaska.
Fires will eventually ease the problem of these dead forests. Mother nature will handle it but I wouldn’t want to be around when it happens.
Ping
We have a huge problem with pine beetles in BC too. The cause was too vigorous fire suppression — but, global warming is being blamed (with zero evidence to support it).
Only they are now desk clerks at the Local Super 8 motel
Thanks, granola heads!
Had a local-owned sawmill in my neck of the woods that’s been around longer than my half-century shutdown this summer. Sad to see it not operating. Affected a good number of sawmillers as well as timber haulers. Heard it was Canadian timber driving prices down that led to them closing their operations. I don’t know if that’s a fact though.
“I own a lumber company??? Need some wood??”
</Dubya>
Gee the UNION word was never used today.
As the second larget timber producing county in California, we had several mills in the 1980s. All the dimensional wood saw mills and the moulding plant have closed. All we have left is two plywood veneer mills that take trees under about 23 inches in diameter.
At a meeting I attended with the US Forest Service Chief, a gentleman from Sierra Pacific pointed out that the region is losing its timber infrastructure:
1. USFS sawlog volume accounts for only 15% of total volume harvested in CA
2. Mills have closed, many mills currently working reduced shifts due to reduction in volume of wood
3. From 06 to 07, there has been a 26% drop in USFS sawlog volume and a 9% drop in non-sawlog volume.
4. The existing infrastructure is at risk and all depends on sawlog volume, not firewood or biomass.
5. There is a disconnect in the USFS in determining what is an economical timber sale.
The Chief said there was a lack of “social license” to harvest trees anymore.
environmentalists,, Perfect StormTroopers.. saving dead wood (so it can catch fire and consume forests and wildlife.. oh.. and residents, most of them taxpayers)
Standing dead timber isn’t much good for anything but building log houses. It’s too dry, cracked, and twisted for milling.
They should know enough to throw in some good trees to pay the bills if they want any bidders. The trees are growing way faster than we can ever cut them; it’s time to get in gear.
The spotted owl in Wa State, was more important than the logging communities. Sounds like about now, there is a great opportunity for some smart business person to get some logging skills, equipment, crew...
See, there are good jobs in America, if you know where to look!
~~ AGW™ ping~~