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Medford
Tribune
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One of Medford Corporation's hed-boom loaders deftly eases a log on one of Austin King's logging trucks in the Butte Falls
truck in 15 minutes compared to the tedious method employed formerly with stationary steam (donkey) engines, winches and
Timber
By JOE COWLEY
Mall Tribune Staff Writer
What is the most efficient
way to dispose of logging
debris? How can timber be
harvested wilh the least dam
age to the soil and second
growth? Does selective log
ging really pay?
These and niher questions
vere answered during the
A group of the Industrial Forestry association's tour examine the Columbus Day storm damage
from last year. The wind hit the area in strips. Tha vacuum created by the storm lifted trees
out of the ground. Numerous access roads made it possible to salvage the downed timber more
easily. Pennsylvania Congressman John Sayler, extreme left, flanked by Jack Hanel, Pacific
Power and Light biologist, listen to an explanation in Elk Lumber company's Imnaha road area.
a7 M'"' it
Members of Ihe Wednesday Industrial Forestry tour hear an explanation of slash disposal in the Medford Corporation opera
i r,e'Uhe l-t South Fork rd. Considering the time and num her of men required slash burning is a costly process, it was ex-
inivl a
tinn
plained
Management
Industrial Foresty associa
tion's field trip Wednesday
through the Prospect and
Butte Falls areas. Timber
management practices as used
by Elk Lumber company and
Medford Corporation were
viewed by approximately 35
persons.
Among those on the trip
was John Sayler, Pennsyl
li it" V
vania congressman, who was
visiting Dr. Edwin Durno,
Medford physician and ex
Oregon congressman. Con
gressman Sayler came here
following the Republican con
vention in Eugene last week.
He is ranking senior mem
ber of the House interior and
insular affairs committee. As
Dr. Durno. another member
of the field tour party, ex-
Practices Reviewed on Tour of Area
plained, this committee is
concerned with irrigation,
forestation and rccre a t i o n
major economic developments
of the Rogue valley.
Sayler had never seen lum
ber operations in this area.
H i s Pennsylvania district
covers Johnstown and Pitts
burgh, an area which includes
some hardwood lumber in
dustry. The congressman was im
pressed with the log sizes at
Medford Corporations, logging
site on the the East South
Fork rd.
"Congressman, if you think
these trees are big, wait until
you see our old growth tim
ber. This is only second
growth," Calvin Smith, for
ester with the Industrial For
estry association, remarked
with a grin.
First stop was at the Elk
Lumber company's logging
site, a partial cut area on 60
per cent slope on Elk Creek
near the Oscar Hanson prop
erty. Sam Taylor, company wood
operations boss, explained the
soil is never left completely
bare. This allows for repro
duction. This, contrasts to all
timber removal and ground
burning followed by resccd
ing never very successful
in 'obtaining second growth,
Taylor pointed out. Water
bars were constructed on the
slope to prevent erosion, he .
said.
Slash is left scattered on
the ground to provide pro
tective humus later for seed
ling trees.
A forester in the group
pointed out that under Ore-
area. Such a rig can load
booms.
gon law the operator is re
sponsible for any fires start
ing in the slash until a forest
agency such as the forest
service releases them from
that responsibility. Selective
logging leaves enough shade
so the slash deteriorates rap
idly making it possible to re
lease the slash in two or three
years instead of the usual
eight.
Because of the 14,000 acres
of slash Elk Lumber company
. carries on its lands it has to
' maintain a larger fire de
partment than that of the
Southwest district of the
state department of forestry,
it was pointed out.
Logging selectively is not
necessarily more expensive,
foresters said. Because of the
many roads through selective
timber stands it was possible
to start logging the Columbus
Day storm windfalls a week
after the blow-down.
Selective logging also in
sures m u 1 1 i p 1 e use of the
forests. The number of hunt
ers and a large hunting camp
in one stand of timber showed
the woods were being used
extensively for recreation.
Taylor noted that "the
woods are every man's right,"
but predicted this may have
to be changed.
A few hunters destroy signs,
shoot locks off gates and their
vehicles tend to tear down
non-gravelled access roads.
The new lightweight motor
cycles will carry more people
farther into the woods and
create a more extensive prob
lem in fire hazards and de
struction of private property,
he said.
John Gartman, Elk forester,
told how the company will
leave stands of timber along
stream banks and near water
holes. Raised culverts allow
for water collection so pump
ers can get their water from
these watcrholes, Gartman
explained.
Taylor noted that some re
production is not worth sav
ing since such puny trees will
never grow into merchantable
timber. However, "punky
trees" are left for possible fu
ture timber harvest when pos
sible. High stumps have been
harvested for peeler cores,
it was noted.
Showing a clear-cut area
with "pummy type" soil, Tay
lor said the brush is left in
this area so the second growth
can be protected until it
grows right through it. He
told of a plant which sprouts
in burned over areas and
whose broad leaves protect
forest seedlings.
Research revealed this seed
is impervious to water and
requires 150 degree tempera
ture as provided by the fringe
of a forest fire to make it
sprout. It will lay deep in the
soil Just waiting for fire to
germinate It, Taylor ex
plained. Foresters showed piles of
slash being burned alongside
the road and commented it
would be cheaper to bury it,
considering all the manpower
required for slash burning.
How do you log larger
trees in thick stands of sec
ond grow)) mi 4 the. least
dat ft tM 44 V, mm
SECTION B
Calvin Smith,
chahtable tree crop?
Elk carefully plotted the
logging approacti with rib
bon. Then it cut one main
skid road with smaller roads
joining it at right angles and
trees were felled at an angle
to the main road. The large
tractors never left the main
skid road and logs would be
pulled to it through the branch
roads with two logs using the
same "slot."
Loggers made more money
this way since they didn't
have to push the brush away
in front of them continually
as in the usual logging oper
ation. The trees left were
culls. But, if needed they
could be logged later.
The tour group, which in
cluded educators, count;
court members, and repre
sentatives of the Boy Scouts,
civil defense, Izaak Walton
league and California and
Oregon Recreation Develop
ment association, watched one
of Medco's heel-boom loaders
pick up a 14-ton log in its
giant pincers swing it over to
a logging truck and carefully
drop it in position.
It piled other logs on top
with the pincers carefully
nudging each log into posi
tion. Such a rig can load a
truck in 10 to 15 minutes,
it was explained.
On the way back, the tour
group stopped at a weighing
station maintained by Medco.
Here a stockpile of logs is
kept in case a log truck
weighs much lighter than the
limit. This station insures a
truck carries a maximum le
gal load.
Here, too, the weigh-station
attendant can route and re
route trucks to various log
-jagST" fipgf j-yps, tHBKK' . mwwi'??-
! ate tSm
The gin( aim it fee kflm loader rirflly slides a lop log inln place alnp one weighing 14 Ions as a logging truck pre
pees la noto wH. tin pur;tr picked up Ihe logs as gently as jackstraws as Ihe Industrial Forestry association's 35-member
tear iritriwd ftvnuUd,
MEDFORD, OREGON,
forester wilh Iho Inriuctrlal pn,
. , v . "ioi.j oMuumiuii, f.jidiiis h iung sienner piece
or core drilling from a Douglas fir tree to Congressman John Sayler, R-Pa., who was on th8
our with Ex-Congressman Edwin Durno, Medlord physician. Foresters can tell the growth of a
tree by counting and measuring the rings on a piece of core wood.
Tom Oliver (right, Timber Products official, listens lo Sam Taylor, woods operation boss wilh
Elk Lumber company, tell a humorous incident. Taylor, as chief lorcster for his company, ex
plained much of his company's conservation practices. He was assisted by John Gartman Elk
forester.
landings. Like a railroad
switchman he steps out of
his shack and flashes a large
card with the number of the
landing needing trucks.
A radio network connects
the weigh station with the
log dump at Ihe mill and
each landing to insure effic
ient and swift Uuck-dispatch-ing.
A tractor and radio arc now
considered the two of the
main logging tools now, a
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, lim.3
oi..,, , ,
forester said. Forestry agen
cies seldom close the woods
down during hot, dry wealh
cr now because they realize
the strategically located,
radio- dispatched logging
equipment can quickly reach
the scene of a fire. They now
realize such equipment is
better fire insurance in the
woods than out of it, it was
pointed out.
It was generally agreed that
the forest "is every man's
sssi ' Ji
PAGES 1 to 10
1
,
Forests
right" only as long as ha
protects that right, be he log
gcr or recreationist. Tha
local industry is striving to
do its part with selective
logging and other conserva
tion practices. Slash areas need
not be eye-sores now; al
pointed out on the tour, they
can be camp-sites.
The tour made a good pre
liminary event for American
Forest Products Week which
starts today.
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