Deer Park Lumber was proud to be a part of the 1st annual Northern Tier Hardwood Association’s Sustainable Timber Harvesting Workshop. The event presented some of the different aspects of the Forest Products Industry. This workshop allowed students at both high school and college levels as well as the general public to gain an understanding of sustainable timber harvesting practices. Attendees started with a forestry seminar taught by Deer Park Lumber. Mark Sickler gave an overview of a forester’s roles in the timber harvesting industry. Deer Park foresters demonstrated essential skills to their job such as putting in boundary lines with a hand compass and a map. Participants were able to go on a walk through the woods with Barrett Wiggans and Travis Wiggans who taught the fundamentals of dendrology and silviculture allowing them to see the woods through a forester’s eyes. The Forestry team concluded the seminar with a drone demonstration by Russell Kutish to show how new technology is being used to make high quality maps of timber stands.
After the Forestry seminar, participants observed a timber harvest taking place. Matt Carney of Elite Timber Harvesting put on a timber harvesting demonstration using the newest Ponsse equipment to show how the modern mechanized logger works through a timber stand. Noah Eisenhardt then gave a demonstration on how to safely hand cut and skid logs out of the woods. This showed the benefits and drawbacks of using mechanized equipment versus using a chainsaw and a skidder.
Attendees then got to see how a firewood processor processes low grade logs so they can be marketed. A small sawmill was onsite which allowed students to see how softwood was processed and turned into lumber products. Students had the opportunity to talk with experts in different roles in the industry such as the DCNR, Hardwood Development Council, Deer Park Lumber, and NTHA. A Ponsse representative was present on sight with a simulator for one of their mechanized timber harvesters which allowed participants to gain an understanding of what it is like to be a mechanized logger.
This event had a great turnout and did a fantastic job of giving an overview of the timber harvesting industry. Showing the different aspects of the timber harvesting industry allowed students to open their minds up to many different job opportunities they may not have otherwise known about. NTHA plans on hosting this event yearly in hopes of showing how sustainable forestry methods have allowed us to harvest timber for many years and will allow us to harvest timber for years to come.
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