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Last night, the History Channel showed its first filming of Axmen, Year Two. As you recall, last year the History Channel followed and filmed four different logging crews in the Coastal Range of Oregon. This is a heavily wooded, low mountainous, range between Portland and the Oregon Coast.
Even before the show began, I wondered "How are they financially even logging? With the housing industry in the downturn of the country's recession, there is not much demand for lumber. How are these guys even employed?" That issue was not discussed in the show.
The format did change a bit. Last year, the camera crews followed four Oregon logging crews. This year, they follow two of the original crews but include a logging crew in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. Some of the equipment for two of the crews has been updated and is more sophisticated.
A fourth logging crew is unique in that they do salvage logging of old growth logs that sank to the bottom of a river. In the past years, fallen trees were floated down the rivers to a sawmill. If the logs were in the river too long, they absorbed some of the water and sank to the bottom.
Despite being submerged in the river for decades, these logs(mostly Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar) not only retain market value they actually have increased value. The film showed a river salvaged log being cut into 8 and 10 foot sections. Each section is then cut with the grain to make beautiful fireplace mantels and coffee tables. Apparently, being submerged in the water that long changes the internal content of the wood fiber to an amazingly attractive sheen.
Salvaging the logs from the river brings a whole new set of dangers. Divers have to attach steel cables in sometimes murky waters. They have to deal not only with the river current but the currents of the ocean tides which affects this particular river. One salvage boat is damaged when the current drags it into a bridge piling.
Another crew experiments with helicopter logging. This is not just using a helicopter to lay the dragline like we saw in the first season. This time, they use a helicopter to actually carry out the logged tree. Though helicopter logging is environmentally friendly and reduces some dangers it creates a new set of logging dangers.
My brothers and I used to cut firewood in Rice Lake's Blue Hills for our personal heating use. We felled a few oaks and maples on our family's property to thin out the trees. In was part of a "Male bonding" experience.
Though we were never injured, we had several near misses of trees falling the wrong way, tall branches snapping off, etc. Reflecting back on those times, part of me asks, "What were we thinking?"
If you missed the first episode, the History Channel shows the weekly episode several times a week. I encourage you to watch it.
Even before the show began, I wondered "How are they financially even logging? With the housing industry in the downturn of the country's recession, there is not much demand for lumber. How are these guys even employed?" That issue was not discussed in the show.
The format did change a bit. Last year, the camera crews followed four Oregon logging crews. This year, they follow two of the original crews but include a logging crew in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. Some of the equipment for two of the crews has been updated and is more sophisticated.
A fourth logging crew is unique in that they do salvage logging of old growth logs that sank to the bottom of a river. In the past years, fallen trees were floated down the rivers to a sawmill. If the logs were in the river too long, they absorbed some of the water and sank to the bottom.
Despite being submerged in the river for decades, these logs(mostly Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar) not only retain market value they actually have increased value. The film showed a river salvaged log being cut into 8 and 10 foot sections. Each section is then cut with the grain to make beautiful fireplace mantels and coffee tables. Apparently, being submerged in the water that long changes the internal content of the wood fiber to an amazingly attractive sheen.
Salvaging the logs from the river brings a whole new set of dangers. Divers have to attach steel cables in sometimes murky waters. They have to deal not only with the river current but the currents of the ocean tides which affects this particular river. One salvage boat is damaged when the current drags it into a bridge piling.
Another crew experiments with helicopter logging. This is not just using a helicopter to lay the dragline like we saw in the first season. This time, they use a helicopter to actually carry out the logged tree. Though helicopter logging is environmentally friendly and reduces some dangers it creates a new set of logging dangers.
My brothers and I used to cut firewood in Rice Lake's Blue Hills for our personal heating use. We felled a few oaks and maples on our family's property to thin out the trees. In was part of a "Male bonding" experience.
Though we were never injured, we had several near misses of trees falling the wrong way, tall branches snapping off, etc. Reflecting back on those times, part of me asks, "What were we thinking?"
If you missed the first episode, the History Channel shows the weekly episode several times a week. I encourage you to watch it.
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