It was like Christmas morning last week on the job site. Our boss pulled in with new, baby blue Eco-Wheel Tracks for one of our skidders. Everyone gathered around to see the newest feature that will help extend our operating season, while minimizing the impact on the ground. Go to http://www.hultdins.com/material.php?itemID=8 for a closer look.

Eco-Wheel Tracks are fast taking the place of chains on skidder wheels. These tracks are better than chains and require less maintenance. We had to use the crane to remove them from the trailer and gently place them on the ground to lift around each skidder tire. After a few wisecracks about the color (baby blue), the guys got busy working to put the tracks on. I jokingly said, "how many loggers does it take to put a pair of tracks on?" there were a few chuckles from the crew.

As a Master Logger Certified company we constantly struggle to produce wood, while working to protect the environment and uphold the standards of our certification. The tracks are made to help the skidder move around the woods with as little impact as possible to the soil. Any time we can minimize the damage, or the time spent fighting the elements, we do.

Continue reading "Eco-Wheel Tracks"

When a landowner has trees on their property cut without permission, it is a timber trespass. Sometimes it happens by accident and sometimes it is intentional, either way the person, or company is responsible for the blunder.

The best way to prevent an accidental timber trespass is by making sure that the property lines are well marked. Whenever you are walking your property, take along a can of spray paint to freshen up the lines.

Work with a reputable forester or logger if you are going to improve the health of your forest. Go to www.masterloggercertification.org for a list of certified loggers in your area. This way you will know that you are working with a logger who has his work third party certified. You will also know that the wood leaving your property is documented. A Master Logger Certified company will guarantee a “green” harvest, one that pays attention to the environment and the health of the woods.

When we go to work on a property, we make a series of visits. The first visit is to get a quick idea of the job, and to let the landowner know what to expect. The second visit is to gather information for a detailed Harvest Proposal. Lastly, just before the harvest begins a walk with the feller buncher operator and the landowner, to make sure there is a total understanding of the boundaries and how the harvest will proceed. This also serves as a time to answer any last minute questions the landowner may have.

Unfortunately there will always be loggers who steal. Landowners need to be proactive by protecting their land and their boundaries. If you feel that you have been a victim of a timber trespass, contact the Maine Forest Service. Check out the department's web site for valuable information for landowners http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/

The Master Logger Certification is designed for professionals who are seeking to be on the cutting edge of what the new face of logging is all about. Consumers are asking for certified products. People want to know that the wood products they are using are born of responsible harvests.

Maine Custom Woodlands went through the rigorous process to become Master Logger Certified, and was one of the first 24 companies in history to acquire this certification. The Maine model was the first in the world, and our boss Thomas Cushman worked on the panel to create these standards. Now this model is being implemented in various places around the country and around the world. We are professionals who need to live up to the standards of our certification. There are times where these standards hinder the business of generating money, but hopefully in the long run, all the Master Loggers will be rewarded for their dedication to the environment.

In order to become certified, Maine Custom Woodlands had to go through a rigorous third party certification process. This process consisted of a 3-5 hour site interview, 10-15 past and current harvest sites were identified, and 3 professional references were obtained.

Part 1 of the Master Logger Certification process consists of:

A) The written interview
B) A company profile
C) Documentation of reference checks
D) Documentation of a background check of the company’s compliance with business and natural resource laws

All companies that go through this process are identified only by a number. This keeps the identity of the company from the Certification Board. This confidentiality keeps the board impartial.

Then two MLC accredited field verifiers visit 10 to 15 coded harvest sites. These field verifiers are respected professionals in the industry. They must be experienced, licensed foresters or working/retired professional loggers. When they visit these sites they are documenting that the company meets all the standards of the certification.

The company applying then signs a Code of Ethics and release form that indicates a desire to move the application forward to the Certifying Board. The Board consists of four people from Maine and four from outside the state. They meet and review each application. There needs to be a unanimous vote of acceptance from the Certifying Board in order for a company to become certified.

Once completing the certification process, there is a public graduation and celebration. Here in the state of Maine graduation is traditionally held at The Governor’s Mansion.

As a Master Logger Certified Company we are required to uphold the eight goals which are further defined by harvest responsibilities with their own set of performance standards. Here is a list of the Eight Goals along with the Harvest Responsibilities.

Goal One: Document Harvest Operations Planning

H.R. #1: Discuss any existing forest management plans with the landowner/forester.

H. R. #2: If no forest management plan exists, the harvest company creates a harvest operations plan based upon landowner objectives and in compliance with all federal, state, and local laws.

H.R. #3: Conduct a pre-harvest and post harvest assessment of the site.

Goal Two: Protect Water Quality

H.R. #1: Organize and plan road construction and access to harvest location in a manner that prevents soil erosion and does not impede water flow.

H.R. #2: Prepare skid trails in a manner that does not reduce soils absorbency.

H.R. #3: Attend to stream management zones in a manner that does not divert or concentrate water flows.

H.R. #4: Manage stream crossings during harvest and road building.

H.R. #5: Establish logging yards at the proper distance from streams, ponds, lakes, marshes, steep slopes and wetlands so as to maintain the benefits of vegetation next to water bodies.

H.R. #6: Monitor all regulations and obtain necessary permits in accordance with federal, state, and local laws.

Goal Three: Maintain Soil Productivity

H.R. #1: Assure future forest soil productivity by harvest planning and on the ground layout.
H.R. #2: Minimize and stabilize exposed soil.

H. R. #3: Close out the harvest site, complete the post-harvest check sheet, and follow-up as necessary.

Goal Four: Sustain Forest Ecosystems

H.R. #1: Determine if the forest management plan has delineated current wildlife habitat to remain undisturbed. If no forest management plan exists, wildlife habitat should be delineated in the harvest plan.

H.R. #2: Check all special or unique sites and clearly mark boundaries per harvest plan.

H.R. #3: Discuss with the landowner/forester the need for attention to preserving native biological diversity.

H.R. #4: Delineate any understory/overstory areas landowner/forester wants preserved due to unique flora or fauna.

H. R. #5: Ensure that post-harvest stands are left in good condition for future forest growth and regeneration.

Goal Five: Manage Forest Aesthetics

H.R. #1: Discuss the aesthetic consideration of the harvest with the landowner/forester.

H.R. #2: Exhibit an aesthetic sensitivity in areas that adjoin roads and highways, known recreation trails, landing areas, vistas, and other areas of local community value.

H.R. #3: Communicate with employees to ensure the removal of al unnecessary debris from the harvest site and seed landing areas when prescribed.

Goal Six: Ensure Workplace Safety

H.R. #1: Track compliance with all OSHA rules for safety awareness, personal protective equipment, machine operation and maintenance, hand tool safety, harvesting and felling, sharpening of blades, notching, yarding, limbing, and handling flammable or combustible liquids.

H.R. #2: Document an OSHA compliant safety and health plan that includes a hazard communication program, lockout/tagout program, blood born pathogens, etc.

H.R. #3: Initiate Superior Management Practices (SMP) that exceeds minimum expectations of federal and state safety laws.

Goal Seven: Demonstrate Continuous Improvement

H.R. #1: Develop and implement Superior Management Practices (SMP)

H.R. #2: Incorporate advanced and emerging harvest technologies.

H.R. #3: Maintain accurate production data.

Goal Eight: Ensure Business Viability

H.R. #1: Provide technical and training support to company employees and abide by all federal and state labor laws.

H.R. #2: Utilize technology to improve planning and decision making.

H.R. #3: Actively participate in the logging industry on local, state, regional and national levels.

Green is here to stay, and those who want to stay, will have to be green!

Any environmentally aware timber harvesting company has spill kits on all of their machines. Our Master Logger Certification demands that we meet this requirement. While out in the woods any machine can develop a problem which can cause a hazard to the environment. Diesel, hydraulic fluid, or oil can spill from a machine. While a machine is smack dab in the middle of 100 acres and a spill occurs, the operator needs the tools to take care of that spill immediately. Thus the need for spill kits on every machine.

We purchase special pads that are about the size of a cloth table napkin. These pads can absorb 25 times their weight. When an operator experiences a spill of any kind, they immediately throw pads on the spill to begin absorbing the offending liquid. The next step involves shoveling the tainted soil into a container. That is where the contractor bags come in. So the container that carried the tools to clean up the spill becomes the container to carry away the tainted soil.

We have a spill kit in the service truck and one on each machine. Our service truck stays on or near the landing (where the trees land). So when something happens on the landing there’s a spill kit available to clean it up. Then each of the skidders has a spill kit secured in their cabs, as well as the feller buncher.

Got a problem with your skidder, or looking to buy one? Have a job opening? Selling a trailer? Looking for some business advice or training? Or has the change in the climate gotten you so upset you would like to find someone who will give you a shoulder to cry on. Then go to www.wmfrtc.org and poke around in WMFRTC Forum. The Western Maine Forest Resources Training Consortium’s website is a great resource for anyone in the logging industry.

When you get to the website, click on WMFRTC Forum on the left, and once you get there you will find the following categories:

Editorials
General Information
Your Training Needs
Tricks and Fixes
Looking to Buy?
For Sale
Forestry Related Issues
Forest Fire

What a great place to share and learn…as a matter of fact, I am going to share what I think is an awesome way to keep spill kits in your machines. What? I am not going to tell you here…go to www.wmfrtc.org , go to WMFRTC Forum, look under Tricks and Fixes and find out how I put our spill kits together.

More and more consumers are paying close attention to the products that they use. They are making choices to support businesses that are taking extra strides to protect our natural resources.

The Professional Logging Contractors of Maine wanted to create standards that would bring a sense of professionalism to the logging industry. Sandy Brawders, Executive Director of The PLC of Maine, took on the task of writing The Master Loggers Certification Program. Together, with the PLC of Maine’s Executive Committee, they worked feverishly back and forth to create the standards that would bear the Master Logger Certified Logo. The Trust to Conserve the Northeast Forest was born in order to implement the Master Logger Certification Program.

Maine was the first state in the world to institute third party accountability. These independent verifiers work to monitor the checks and balances, and insure that responsible harvesting standards are constantly being upheld. To find out more about Master Loggers go to www.masterloggercertification.org/

I like to know that when I bring a tissue to my nose or throw another log on the fire, that these products are born from a responsible harvest. More and more logging companies, whether large or small, are making the wise business choice to become Master Logger Certified.

Think of all the things that we use on a daily basis that come from the forest. Paper towels, toilet paper, copy paper, not to mention all our furniture. What about your cubicle? You may not have given a second thought to whether your workspace that surrounds you each day came from a responsible harvest.

If any of your favorite magazines are published by Time Inc., the world’s largest magazine publisher, you can rest assured that your reading enjoyment has been brought to you by a publisher who cares about the sustainable management of your natural resources.

So when the public purchases firewood from our sister company Maine Custom Firewood, www.mcfirewood.com/ they know that they are burning wood that was harvested responsibly, upholding the standards set forth to protect our environment.

Change can be large, like Time Inc.’s commitment to sustainable paper purchasing, or small, with a homeowner’s careful choice of which firewood company to use. The most important thing is we are consciously moving in the right direction, by thinking about the companies we use, and how they treat our environment.

Yes, yes, keep it coming!

It’s a little after six in the morning, and in the crisp morning light there is an air of lightheartedness. Cold is here, and “the boys” are ready to move some wood. We have to get the momentum back.

After a short meeting, Tom yells out “On your mark, get set, GO!” Then everyone goes off in different directions taking care of their own responsibilities to get the day rolling.

As the sun rises up over the landing, this is what logging is about. If an artist were to paint a perfect picture to depict a day on the job, this would be it. Wood chips lay like a yellow blanket around the job site, the smell of the pine, the cranes towering against the glow of the early morning sun and the ground just keeps growing harder.

A reader wanted to know why we just can’t harvest the trees in the mud. So things get muddy, what’s the big deal? Well, it’s not just about getting muddy, there is a lot more to it than that. There are economic reasons as well as environmental reasons why loggers hate mud.

The mud creates unneeded wear and tear on the equipment. This can cost thousands of dollars in repairs due to breakdowns that stop the workflow and cut productivity in half.

Landowners need to know that the entire health of their land is being respected and not just the trees. Erosion, the process by which the surface of the earth is worn away, whether natural or man made, can lead to a decrease in soil productivity and possibly pollution.

Think about it, a dead tree blows over on a property and the root system is near a stream. A heavy rain takes all the soil from around the roots and washes it into the stream. Now, imagine that you are a happy go lucky rainbow trout swimming along in the shimmering sunlight. You dart to and fro, chase a water bug, nibble here, nibble there, all is good when all of a sudden there’s a grittiness in your gills, a stinging in your eyes, and stones lodge in your throat. This is pollution to you, and man was not the cause of it, Mother Nature was. After all she’s just doing her job of naturally thinning the trees in the forest. Mother Nature will improve the forest though thinning, she just takes her time and oh by the way, she doesn’t have any connections at the mills like we do. We tell landowners that we can do it much faster, pay attention to the environment and the icing on the cake is additional income.

Aesthetics are very important to us. We want to leave the forest looking better and healthier than we found it. When the ground is soft or muddy, ruts are formed, and should be repaired.

The forest ecosystem is a very complex thing, soil erosion can have an impact when you least expect it. To learn more about soil erosion go to Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection’s Web site Here you can find out about the different types of soil erosion, along with examples of erosion management.

So as you can see, it isn’t just about getting muddy, nor is it just about buying timber, but it’s more about protecting the delicate balance that exists in the woods. Timber is a renewable resource, one that we need to treat with respect. This respect and attention will guarantee the future of the logging industry, as well as the beauty of the forest for generations to come.

My boss will stare at the weather websites for hours, hoping for a change, a shift, any small thread of hope to grab onto. “Call Joe Cupo, call Kevin Mannix, get them on the phone I need to talk to them!”

Living on the edge these days, hoping for a freeze, praying it doesn’t rain. Watching the forecasts for a slight dip in the temperature, anything, anything to lift our spirits and keep the crew working.

Continue reading "Cold Wishes"