Jim Timber
1/4 bubble off
I bought 84.5 acres of hardwood forest 4 years ago, and was land locked on 6 sides except for one corner which happens to be a 5 acre black ash type 7 wooded swamp (I own roughly 2/3 of it). Over the past 3 years I've been working with the county wetlands coordinator on how to gain useful access to my high ground, and this past winter I finally decided that the silvicultural exemption was the best tool to use at this time. My exemption was granted, and I then waited for the spring road weight restrictions to be lifted on the 8th - 9 days ago. It's been a busy week.
In 2011 I started working on a corduroy trail. This was tedious work as I had to hand carry the sticks since the muck wouldn't support the atv's weight let alone with cargo (I had to winch it through). I had plenty of wood from trail building and other clearing projects, so I worked at it as I did other things on my high ground. Last fall, I was about 90' from having that trail completed to handle the atv and a trailer. It was in dealing with that, which pushed me to pursue a permanent option. My WCA decision on the corduroy was that it was a no-loss, but I was limited to 6' wide and couldn't add any fill, it was also issued as a temporary use permit which would expire this year. Even walking on the wood was dangerous when it was wet, and the wood would shift in the spring with the high water of snow melt - the trail needed to go.
Click on the pic and the video will pop up.
The trail was cut using the path of least resistance going around a pair of 24" downed trunks. That turn would become the Achilles heel of the trail, because there wasn't enough width for the trailer to follow the arc even after it was firm enough for the weight.
After initiating the permit process, I started cutting trees to straighten the path.
Then brought in stone to firm up the landing area (the day before spring weight restrictions took effect).
In 2011 I started working on a corduroy trail. This was tedious work as I had to hand carry the sticks since the muck wouldn't support the atv's weight let alone with cargo (I had to winch it through). I had plenty of wood from trail building and other clearing projects, so I worked at it as I did other things on my high ground. Last fall, I was about 90' from having that trail completed to handle the atv and a trailer. It was in dealing with that, which pushed me to pursue a permanent option. My WCA decision on the corduroy was that it was a no-loss, but I was limited to 6' wide and couldn't add any fill, it was also issued as a temporary use permit which would expire this year. Even walking on the wood was dangerous when it was wet, and the wood would shift in the spring with the high water of snow melt - the trail needed to go.
Click on the pic and the video will pop up.
The trail was cut using the path of least resistance going around a pair of 24" downed trunks. That turn would become the Achilles heel of the trail, because there wasn't enough width for the trailer to follow the arc even after it was firm enough for the weight.
After initiating the permit process, I started cutting trees to straighten the path.
Then brought in stone to firm up the landing area (the day before spring weight restrictions took effect).