Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2014 09:56:04 -0400
From: “John R Dykers” <>
Subject: Post Monday 23rd
Thank you, maryphillis, for a beautiful description of your experience of big old trees.
They are RELATIVELY safe, even if location known, and with Google Earth, you can bet they are known.
MOST, not all, active loggers prefer moderate size sawlogs; one mill I know won’t take logs over 27 inches in diameter, and bigger logs, like old hardwoods, have to travel farther to find a facility that can handle them.
I saw some old pictures of loggers hand cutting big old trees over 150 years ago and wondered how in the world they could process such massive trees to make usable lumber. It can be done, but most lumbermen don’t invest in the equipment anymore.
Save the big golden oldies for ‘old growth’ beauty and enjoyment, and make timber products out of commercial forest management plans that are usually monoculture, but help avoid erosion and provide habitat. And replant to regrow new forest!
Saving some hardwood forest is a difficult problem.
Still would like some who make a living in forest management to chime in with some technical details that might educate me better.
John Dykers