The Photocenter Northwest (PCNW) is putting on an event called the Longshot (  http://insupportofpcnw.wordpress.com/about/ ) in which a photographer or team of photographers covers a topic, typically for the betterment of the community, and this is the page for my project.  I am doing a project concerning Forest Stewardship Council ( http://www.fsc.org/ ) certified forestry.  This type of logging is low-impact, typically involving more technologically advanced machinery, and all-around much more conscientious, sustainable logging.  Standby for more posts.  Also, MOST IMPORTANTLY! I need to get pledges for the project which will go 50/50 to an FSC non-profit and the PCNW, which is also non-profit.  Contact me if you would like to contribute.  It begins on April 30th.  Thanks.

May 4th, 2010

So the event went well. I did it a little different than most participants, by driving out into the sticks instead of wandering the streets of Seattle. I went to two locations, the first was a logging operation on Seattle’s own Wilcox Farms (eggs, dairy, you know…).  I arrived at 8 in the morning and was greeted by JT Wilcox, of Wilcox Family Farms (http://www.wilcoxfarms.com/ ) and followed him to the worksite.  The piece of property was old Weyerhaeuser land that was most recently harvested 28 years ago and had since become overgrown to the tune of about 500 “stems” per acre.  A contractor, John Zapel of Westek Forest, Ltd. ( http://www.westekforest.com/ )has been carefully thinning down the stand to roughly 220 “stems” per acre, which will not only yield a good harvest for Wilcox Farms, but will also open up the tight quarters in which these trees have spread over 28 years of second growth.  Zapel uses a piece of equipment called a harvester, which is the red machine you see selectively cutting, grabbing and depositing individual trees.  The harvester relies on three separate computers, and can be programmed to cut different tree species into variable lengths for different usages.  John, for instance, currently has six tree species programmed.  Although this type of logging is the standard across Europe, it has yet to catch on in the U.S. due to a few reasons, but mainly its difficulty to learn and possibly its cost. The other vehicle is called the forwarder. Downed trees are loaded via its claw-looking arm into the bed and transported in bulk from there.

The remaining shots were at the Green Tree Mill in Graham, WA ( http://www.greentreemill.com/ ).  The logs milled at this location were from varying origins.  For instance, there was a huge oak that had come from a church nearby who needed it removed after falling.  Green Tree Mill sends much of their milled wood to Meyer Wells ( http://www.meyerwells.com/ ) , a furniture builder out of Seattle, and will soon be buying logs from Wilcox.  Thanks to JT Wilcox, John Zapel, David Kienholz and also the Green Tree Mill staff for letting me see their FSC-certified work.

Pieces currently hanging at Crystal Mountain.