Today I got a little closer to a dream...Update 10June16

[JAG2955]

I walked it with a guy from a timber company today. He estimates that there is between $10-$20K worth of timber there, if we do a sustainable harvest, maintaining the diversity, while removing the diseased trees. Mostly Douglas Fir, some Western Larch, and Lodgepole and Ponderosa Pine. The amount includes money taken off the top for road improvements. I'll get even more money if I can convince some of the neighbors to go in with me. Timber exemption will be filed with him as soon as I can sign the papers and get them to my wife to sign.

I also found a small moose shed antler from last year. Chewed on, but still intact.

I'm off to go find a big ass cable to lock across the road, and buy some [strike]cache goods[/strike] camping supplies.

Okay, so here's the update:

No timber company is willing to touch it. They all say that it's too steep, can't be harvested, road too bad, skidding logs up hill. I'm pretty pissed at the timber services guy. It's one thing to be off by X, or even Y percent on an estimate. But off by 100%? I'm pissed. Should I tell him off? I'm certainly not going to recommend him.

IMO, he's not doing enough to look into alternate ways of harvest. The road that cuts through the western 1/3 (which may be some type of easement, but it's not well deeded), is in better shape than the main road. Then they could skid downhill. He also hasn't responded to my request for a...I suppose I'd call it a forest health cut. Cut the sick trees, just let them fall.

One of the companies estimated $5K just to clear a spot for a cabin.

So I'm not sure what to do with it now. It was paid for in cash, the taxes are stupidly low. I guess it's a hunting acreage now...

[Weetabix]

Sorry to hear.

Clear a spot for a cabin yourself over time? Drop a couple of trees, cut and stack, burn the stump each visit?

[Flintlock Tom]

Don't give up!
It took us almost 40 years to realize our dream of an autonomous home in the woods.

Don't get discouraged by the enormity of the task; take small steps! One tree at a time.

[BDK]

Pretty good odds those trees have been felled before.

Ask around, see if there's a local using a team to drag out timber?

[JAG2955]

Pretty good odds those trees have been felled before.

Ask around, see if there's a local using a team to drag out timber?

Oh, it absolutely was cut before. The signs are there. I have a feeling that I'd have to spend some time there, get the names of the people who are along the easement, and then see if I can get passage for logging. Of course, I'm so stubborn, if I find out that no one will do it, I'll start it myself with a chainsaw and a skidder.

Worst case scenario, it can become part of JAG2955's high-angle engagement range.

[Netpackrat]

Keep in mind, there is no such thing as a "clean" selective cut. A timber company is going to want to take the best lumber-bearing trees, so what you'll be left with is the diseased, and genetically inferior trees to the extent that the timber company can get away with it. And even if you can get them to somehow leave the best trees, the process itself is destructive to what is left. A falling tree damages those in the path of where it falls, which leaves the remaining trees more vulnerable to disease and parasites.

Selective cuts are popular today because from a distance, it leaves the forest looking much as it did beforehand... But for the long-term health of the forest, it may not be so good. My dad was an experienced forester (he held a BS degree from UW in Logging Engineering), and he always considered a clearcut to be the most ecologically sound method of harvest, even though it looks ugly to start with and for a few years afterward. Of course, the selective cutting became more politically viable because the environmental movement has always been more about appearances, than actual science.

[blackeagle603]

I see a dozer and a yarder in your future and a lifetime hobby. Either that or you need to see if there are any short loggers or gypo loggers who work the area.


My Explorer scout master had a valley full of Doug Fir and Alder in Western WA so steep you could barely climb straight up hill without hand holds. He had a homebuilt yarder sitting at the top of the one side that had axis. Basically a big stationary engine and winch on the back of a late 40's flatbed truck. He'd work it a little at a time evenings and weekends as a short logger. He'd bring logs up hill with that big winch, steering short logs up the hill with blocks attached to trees.


Find yourself a surplus 6x6 and get a crane on it.


Wow,DIY skylines?

[BDK]

JAG, I'm assuming that means you are a .mil lawyer - don't know what your childhood was like - but if it didn't include logging/heavy equipment, please find an old timer to advise, before you start dropping thousands of pounds of timber, on a steep surface - doctors don't do well w planes, lawyers tend to not do well with farming/ranching equipment.

[JAG2955]

JAG, I'm assuming that means you are a .mil lawyer - don't know what your childhood was like - but if it didn't include logging/heavy equipment, please find an old timer to advise, before you start dropping thousands of pounds of timber, on a steep surface - doctors don't do well w planes, lawyers tend to not do well with farming/ranching equipment.

No. JAG is just my initials. And while I may not be a lawyer, playboy, or billionaire, I am also not an idiot. Proper training, supervision, and more than just myself on the mountain if I ever decide to take matters into my own hands.

[Greg]

I see a dozer and a yarder in your future and a lifetime hobby. Either that or you need to see if there are any short loggers or gypo loggers who work the area.


My Explorer scout master had a valley full of Doug Fir and Alder in Western WA so steep you could barely climb straight up hill without hand holds. He had a homebuilt yarder sitting at the top of the one side that had axis. Basically a big stationary engine and winch on the back of a late 40's flatbed truck. He'd work it a little at a time evenings and weekends as a short logger. He'd bring logs up hill with that big winch, steering short logs up the hill with blocks attached to trees.


Find yourself a surplus 6x6 and get a crane on it.


Wow,DIY skylines?

Didn't he JUST move to Houston?

The logistics on this are going to be... challenging.

Property seems to be lovely, nice to have, not a burden because its paid for and the taxes are fairly non-existent, but that barring a total societal breakdown or an offer from a neighbor or a developer that's too good to pass up, that this property isn't going to be touched for 20-30 years.