mtngun
Addicted to ArboristSite
I dropped by the state land office hoping they'd sell me a woodcutting permit. No dice. Permits will not be sold until the logging roads dry out in June. I was afraid of that, but had to ask, just in case we got a dry spell this month. 
One of the foresters was in the office, so naturally I bombarded him with questions. Here's the gist of the information he provided. :cool2:
Timber sales are up a bit. The local IFG stud mill is benefiting from Japan's earthquake. The mill has the ability to produce metric lumber, similar to BrMorgan's chipper mill.
The state will continue to aggressively clearcut white/grand fir. I had thought white fir was only good for pulp, but IFG makes studs out of it, too. Seems like crappy building material to me, prone to check and twist, but then that would explain some of the studs you buy at discount stores. :msp_biggrin:
They're trying to dramatically reduce the white/grand fir and then use the slash fire to stimulate douglas fir, tamarack, and ponderosa pine, which are more valuable and more fire resistant. White/grand fir is kind of a weed tree, as I have mentioned in the past.
The state is experimenting with planting white pine on my mountain, even though it is not native. They are not optimistic that it will grow well, due to our modest precip, but thought it was worth a try.
They'd like to plant more tamarack, but were short on seedlings this year.
My as-yet-undetermined cutting zone will probably be small this year, due to major timber sales that I have to steer clear of.
I asked why lodgepole pine doesn't grow on this mountain, something BrMorgan and I had wondered about. He said lodgepole likes wet and frosty spots. We're plenty frosty, but short on wet. Nonetheless, I planted a few lodgepole seedlings on my property this year just because the nursery had sold out of everything else.
Looks like I'll be tinkering with saws for another month before I'll be able to take them to the woods. That's fine with me.
One of the foresters was in the office, so naturally I bombarded him with questions. Here's the gist of the information he provided. :cool2:
Timber sales are up a bit. The local IFG stud mill is benefiting from Japan's earthquake. The mill has the ability to produce metric lumber, similar to BrMorgan's chipper mill.
The state will continue to aggressively clearcut white/grand fir. I had thought white fir was only good for pulp, but IFG makes studs out of it, too. Seems like crappy building material to me, prone to check and twist, but then that would explain some of the studs you buy at discount stores. :msp_biggrin:
They're trying to dramatically reduce the white/grand fir and then use the slash fire to stimulate douglas fir, tamarack, and ponderosa pine, which are more valuable and more fire resistant. White/grand fir is kind of a weed tree, as I have mentioned in the past.
The state is experimenting with planting white pine on my mountain, even though it is not native. They are not optimistic that it will grow well, due to our modest precip, but thought it was worth a try.
They'd like to plant more tamarack, but were short on seedlings this year.
My as-yet-undetermined cutting zone will probably be small this year, due to major timber sales that I have to steer clear of.
I asked why lodgepole pine doesn't grow on this mountain, something BrMorgan and I had wondered about. He said lodgepole likes wet and frosty spots. We're plenty frosty, but short on wet. Nonetheless, I planted a few lodgepole seedlings on my property this year just because the nursery had sold out of everything else.
Looks like I'll be tinkering with saws for another month before I'll be able to take them to the woods. That's fine with me.
