# Old growth under water.



## thomas72 (Mar 16, 2009)

I know where a pine tree is that is at the bottom of a creek that is around 4' in diameter. I was told it was left there when the old gang of mules could not pull it out years ago. Are these old pine trees really worth anything?


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## SilverBox (Mar 16, 2009)

If you have a buyer its worth something, or if you want to mill it yourself, you determine what its worth.


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## Trever (Mar 16, 2009)

Where are you in GA? I am a little north of you in East TN.


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## wood4heat (Mar 16, 2009)

Speaking of underwater oldgrowth there is a lake on MT. Hood that was formed thousands of years ago when lava flows damed the Mckenzie river. Some trees from the time are still standing, the water is Freaking COLD but crystal clear. It's an awesome dive spot, bottom times are shortened because of the lakes altitude but diving around 3,000 year old trees is really cool!


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## johncinco (Mar 16, 2009)

Probably worth a $1000 fine from the DNR if you get caught hauling it out. I dont know about your area specificly, but most public waters are covered by some type of legislation that says you can not pull any timber or wood out of the water. You have to have special licensing and permits to get anything like that out. Like I said, most places, you should check your local area before doing anything.


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## thomas72 (Mar 16, 2009)

I do not think it matters much around here. I have seen logging operations pile logs across creeks and streams so they can cross. I will take your advice though and look into it. I am thinking about getting a saw mill and know where one is that is the old circular blade type. Are they okay to use?


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## duffontap (Mar 16, 2009)

For those of you following Ax Men this season, you may be interested to know that S&S Aqua is currently in legal trouble for harvesting old growth timber from the rivers in WA. 

http://www.kirotv.com/news/18927425/detail.html


J. D.


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## wood4heat (Mar 16, 2009)

duffontap said:


> For those of you following Ax Men this season, you may be interested to know that S&S Aqua is currently in legal trouble for harvesting old growth timber from the rivers in WA.
> 
> http://www.kirotv.com/news/18927425/detail.html
> 
> ...



Funny, my wife and I were wondering who had the rights to those logs and if they had permision to harvest them. I figured since it was going to be on TV they would've had there :censored: in order but after watching them for two episodes this sounds about right.


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## outdoorlivin247 (Mar 16, 2009)

The small town I grew up in has a river running around it...It is a small river, but big enough for a john boat or canoes...We took our state rep for a boat ride one afternoon to ask what we could do to help w/ the log jams...Well after a long run around the answer we got from him was, I don't want to read about you guys in the paper...There are two sides to every coin...One being what happens if I get hurt on the water b/c of the log jam...The other being what happens if I get hurt removing the log jam...We cut at least 2-5 log jams a year and thank god nobody ever got hurt...To say I would not do it again to enjoy the river...NOT, I would do it in the heartbeat...


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## Bill_G (Mar 16, 2009)

Here in NH they filled almost every lake and pond after the hurricane of 1938. Before the government put the logs in the water they end coated them with mercury based paint. We looked into pulling some out a few years ago, because some sank before they could saw them. Better chance of seeing God than the state letting you take any water logs.


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## Brmorgan (Mar 17, 2009)

Years ago my uncle's brother briefly had a setup recovering old hardwood logs from rivers in northern Ontario. Stuff like bird's-eye maple etc., some logs were worth many thousands of dollars. It was before I was even born though and I don't know much about it or why he gave it up. I once watched an episode of Dirty Jobs where Mike went to work for a company near Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. They dove for the same type of wood and cut it mostly into veneers using a really nice bandsaw. I think it would be fun to do, but diving in cold water doesn't appeal to me at all. I'll run the boat and saw though!


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## glennschumann (Mar 17, 2009)

*legally harvested under water salvage trees...*

Here is a place in Wisconsin that does it...
http://www.timelesstimber.com/


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## MotorSeven (Mar 17, 2009)

*Sinkers...*

I hear y'all abour DNR & other regulations, but I vehemently disagree with them. It is not about protecting a waterway or the shore bank or a national trreasure, it's about $. Pay the fees & permits and you can just about take anything you want. Here we have a log that was one of the 2-3% that sank during any logging operation nationwide becaue it was so dense. It will sit there on the bottom in the mud until it rots away. Why not allow someone to get a few float bags, tow it to the boat ramp & hoist it on a truck? 

Back in the 70's we used to spearfish opelousa & blue catfish under the cypress stumps in Lake Maurepas Louisiana. I remember swimming over 3' diameter cypress trees laying on the bottom that were over 70' long. These were logged in the late 1800's & early 1900's. A commercial operation in the lake at that time were recovering them. In the 90's those logs were still being pulled & sold for big $ as soon as they hit the dock. Everyone involved benefited, so I say go get the thing, just don't yap about it too much.

RD


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## BIG JAKE (Mar 17, 2009)

MotorSeven said:


> I hear y'all abour DNR & other regulations, but I vehemently disagree with them. It is not about protecting a waterway or the shore bank or a national trreasure, it's about $. Pay the fees & permits and you can just about take anything you want. Here we have a log that was one of the 2-3% that sank during any logging operation nationwide becaue it was so dense. It will sit there on the bottom in the mud until it rots away. Why not allow someone to get a few float bags, tow it to the boat ramp & hoist it on a truck?
> 
> Back in the 70's we used to spearfish opelousa & blue catfish under the cypress stumps in Lake Maurepas Louisiana. I remember swimming over 3' diameter cypress trees laying on the bottom that were over 70' long. These were logged in the late 1800's & early 1900's. A commercial operation in the lake at that time were recovering them. In the 90's those logs were still being pulled & sold for big $ as soon as they hit the dock. Everyone involved benefited, so I say go get the thing, just don't yap about it too much.
> 
> RD



Yeah like S&S aqua. Wherever there's money, there'll be someone there to find a way to weasel in on it. These days they got middlemen for the middleman. If you sit down and write out on a piece of paper how many are taking a piece of you, it might be a surprise. Even after you die the feds'll stop by for a "cold one"!


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## rdbrumfield (Mar 18, 2009)

I live just up the river a short ways from where s&s were in the chehalis getting those logs. You know it is a funny thing that those logs were bought and paid for by the loggers that logged them many years ago. All along this river there used to be sawmills and I remember rafts of logs and the slips that conveyored them into the mill. Some of the logs were huge. Cedars 6ft plus were not uncommon at all. A few years ago there was an outfit that came in with a clam an gleaned the bottom near the mill for logs. They took out barge loads of oldgrowth.
I read in the local rag that the fellow doesn't know if he is going to jail or not. They will most likely confiscate his equipment and sell or scrap it and put the money in the GENERAL fund.


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## jburlingham (Mar 19, 2009)

MotorSeven said:


> I hear y'all abour DNR & other regulations, but I vehemently disagree with them. *It is not about protecting a waterway or the shore bank or a national trreasure, it's about $.* Pay the fees & permits and you can just about take anything you want. Here we have a log that was one of the 2-3% that sank during any logging operation nationwide becaue it was so dense. It will sit there on the bottom in the mud until it rots away. Why not allow someone to get a few float bags, tow it to the boat ramp & hoist it on a truck?
> 
> Back in the 70's we used to spearfish opelousa & blue catfish under the cypress stumps in Lake Maurepas Louisiana. I remember swimming over 3' diameter cypress trees laying on the bottom that were over 70' long. These were logged in the late 1800's & early 1900's. A commercial operation in the lake at that time were recovering them. In the 90's those logs were still being pulled & sold for big $ as soon as they hit the dock. Everyone involved benefited, so I say go get the thing, just don't yap about it too much.
> 
> RD



I couldn't have said it any better


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## arbadacarba (Mar 27, 2009)

A guy about forty miles from me in Mill Bay has signed a contract with the Government of Ghana to underwater log Lake Volta. There's over a billion dollars of high quality lumber logs in there including Ebony, Afzelia, and Kevazinga. -To me, this is logging at it's best.
(Williston Lake in northern B.C. is another good candidate for high grade logs.)


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