Salvage
Logging
in the
Biscuit
Fire
By Tim Jewett
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Matt Demain inspecting old growth timber killed in the Biscuit Fire. |
The ghostly, charred skeletons of
old growth disappear into the fog
shrouding the rugged mountains
of Southwest Oregon. These blackened
giants are the most noticeable remains
of the 2002 Biscuit Fire. But, beneath the
singed bark of these dead Douglas fir
trees, lies a rare treasure, golden-red
rings of old-growth wood.
The old growth on those hillsides
hasn’t been available to loggers in recent
times because of over-harvesting and
more stringent environmental regulations protecting the Northern spotted
owl and murrelets. “But the Biscuit Fire
changed all that,” says Matt Demain,
owner of Matt Demain Cutting Inc.
Following the inferno that burned
nearly a half-million acres of the
Siskiyou National Forest, the Forest
Service auctioned over 75 million board
feet of timber to local timber and plywood
mills. Of that amount, two-thirds
of the timber was old growth — referred
to by the service as ‘late succession
reserves.’ Representing less than
one percent of the burn area, the salvage
sales were made available to aid
the economic recovery of the region.
Salvaging old growth
As the supply of large trees has diminished,
so has the number of men
who can cut them. Demain is among a
dwindling number of fallers who can
still properly harvest a tree up to eight
feet in diameter. “My job is to save as
much of the tree as I can,” he says. “I
find the longest ground that I can and
put as many trees as possible in that
long ground.”
In 2005 Demain was contacted by
East Fork Lumber Company of Norway,
Ore. That year he felled over 5
million board feet of salvaged timber.
He expects to do another 1.5 million
board feet this year, before completing
his salvage contract and moving on to
other jobs.
Techniques for tarred timber
Salvage logging has unique challenges
and requires different techniques
of the timber fallers. One reason
is because burned timber is harder
wood. Demain’s theory is that it’s
caused by fire sucking moisture out of
the timber.
To cut that harder wood, Demain
wants the biggest motor he can get. His
felling saw is driven by a Husqvarna
3120 and is outfitted with a 60-inch bar.
Demain prefers the Stihl semi-skip
chain because it cuts through the hard
wood more smoothly, with less chatter.
His bucking saw is a Husky 395 with a
36-inch bar and an Oregon Chain Company
full-skip chain.
Added Safety concerns
Demain and his crew are also
keenly aware of the additional dangers
of salvage logging, in particular,
burned branches and treetops that can
break off and fall. Demain has found,
over the past two salvage cutting seasons,
that smaller limbs in the tree tops
burn and fall down through other
limbs and get hung up. Wind can get
the trees rocking back and forth, shaking
that debris loose.
In the Biscuit Fire, the canopy of the
trees got so hot that the tops are now
very brittle and can easily break off and
fall. “We’ve had tops of trees break off
and come over backwards,” says Demain. “You’ve got to be really careful.
In fact, he and his crew did not cut trees
on the day of this interview because of
gusty winds. “I’m not going to put anyone
on my crew in harm’s way,” he
says. “There’s always another day.”
 |
Demain expects to fell 1.5 million feet of salvage timber in 2007 at the Biscuit
site. That is down from 5 million board feet in 2005. |
Hauling it out
When Demain’s cutting work is
done on this salvage unit, the job of
getting the logs to the landing is taken
over by Wayne Wood Logging Inc. His
five-man, skyline operation uses a Skagit
BU80, slack-line, 90-foot tower
equipped with a Danabo SC20 drum
car carriage, because they are better
able to handle the large, old-growth
logs. A 235 Cat shovel loads them onto
the trucks.
Due to Forest Service regulations,
Wood’s salvage logging operation in the
Biscuit Fire area requires additional
work. To prevent ground disturbance,
fewer skidding roads are allowed and
one end of the log must be suspended.
“It costs me a lot of money and time,
because I have to set up the yarder
more times (16 times instead of just
twice) to get five million board feet of
timber,” says Wood.
But most U.S. Forest Service regulations
governing salvage logging, aren’t
much different from general logging,
although they do require more large,
woody debris be left behind to encourage
forest and wildlife regeneration.
Coming to a close
This year, there is some urgency to
falling the salvage timber. Now, four years
after the fire, the wood is in danger of losing
its commercial value.
“My guess is that this is the last season,”
said Steve Cornell, the U.S. Forest
Service timber sale administrator monitoring
Demain’s work.
“It’s more brittle this year and more
prone to breakage,” says Demain. On a
bucked log, five-feet in diameter, Demain
points to a dark ring of stain just under the
bark where the sap rot is creeping into the
wood.
Over Three Decades Felling
Matt Demain is 51 years old and has
been cutting timber for 24 years. He
started working in the woods at age 18,
right out of high school. Athird generation
forest worker, he is the first in his family to
be a faller.
However, the father of three said he
doesn’t encourage his children to go into the
business. “Tramping up and down these
steep hills is hard on the body,” he said, rubbing
the pain in his knees. “And the business
has changed. The wages have not kept
up with the overhead.”
Demain spent the first decade of his career
working his way up through the
ranks of logging crews. He toiled as a
choker setter, rigging slinger, the chaser on
the landing, and eventually as the hook
tender, supervising the crews. Always intrigued
by the more glamorous work of
the timber cutters, Demain was frustrated
by a system that offered few opportunities.
“It was a tough industry to break into,”
he said. “If you weren’t part of a family in
the cutting business, it was difficult to get
the skills.”
Persistence paid off when Demain was
hired by John Campbell, a legendary oldgrowth
faller. Demain bucked timber for
two years with Campbell’s company before
he actually got a chance to cut down
his first old-growth tree.
 |
Logging at the burn has required
addition work. To prevent less
ground disturbance, fewer skidder
roads were allowed. |
Today, Matt subcontracts a few other
cutters to work with him in “sets”, one
felling and one bucking the trees. With old
growth not readily available, Demain cuts
primarily green, standing 2nd growth
trees. And, more recently, he’s branched
into a more managerial role, working as a “bull buck” and supervising crews for
other cutting companies.
Although the work is hard and the
days are long, (Demain drives two and a
half hours each morning to reach the salvage
logging job site) the thrill is still
there. Especially downing these enormous
specimens. “It’s such an adrenaline rush,”
Demain said. “You can’t imagine!”
TW
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