AX-Men in TROUBLE !

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JBuck

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Looks like trouble.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/1401ap_ax_men_search_warrant.html

Wash state: 'Ax Men' crew salvaged logs illegally
By PHUONG LE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

SEATTLE -- Washington state's Department of Natural Resources on Friday seized more than two dozen logs it says were illegally salvaged by a timber crew featured on the History Channel's reality show "Ax Men."

DNR officers served a search warrant on S&S Aqua Logging to retrieve timber the company had pulled from the Hoquiam River without a permit, said Larry Raedel, the agency's chief enforcement officer.

Officers were tipped off after watching the popular series, which chronicles the lives of Pacific Northwest timber cutters, including a father-son team from Aberdeen-based S&S Aqua Logging.

"These are valuable materials that belong to the public and this looks like theft, plain and simple," state Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark said.

An Associated Press call and e-mail to the company and e-mails seeking comment from the History Channel were not immediately returned.

Logs provide a key function for rivers in trapping sediment, harboring insects and other food for fish, and creating pools and riffles where fish can rest, said Greg Hueckel, fish and wildlife habitat programs director.

"They are part of the functioning ecosystem, so removing the log would be like removing part of the bed," he said.

Hueckel said his agency typically grants permits to remove logs in situations where flooding causes log jams. It's unlikely that a permit would be granted for timber harvest, he said.

Jimmy Smith, who owns and operates S&S Aqua Logging, said on the show that the logs were worth about $10,000, according to search warrant records.

When "Ax Men" debuted last year, it became the History Channel's most popular series with more than 2 million weekly viewers. This season began airing March 2 and features two timber crews from Washington, two from Oregon and one from Montana.

In one video posted on the show's Web site, Smith, a fourth-generation logger, is shown floating down a river in a boat, scanning for logs. "We're normal guys that do extraordinary things," he said.
 
I'm not surpised. Down here "large woody debris" is a hot topic. The county announced just a few weeks ago it will no longer remove any logs from streams regardless of the hazard. Even log jams are no longer removed.
 
ok....i don't understand something here. they hammer us for logging. saying we are ruining the world. but then they admit that the logging residue in the stream system is rital to the stream ecosystem. something does not seem right here!!

they don't like logging, but they like paper, cardboard boxes, toilet paper, and their food that gets shipped on wooden pallets, and they realize that logging residue is important. these people need to get a clue!
 
I'm not surpised. Down here "large woody debris" is a hot topic. The county announced just a few weeks ago it will no longer remove any logs from streams regardless of the hazard. Even log jams are no longer removed.

Hmm..around my parts we drive gigantic track-hoes through the creeks cleaning out and picking up all log jams. Talk about harsh soil compaction issues not to mention stream bed habitat destruction along with possible destruction of fish spawning areas just to name a few. Yet the county still runs these huge track hoes up and down the streams to clean them up every couple years. I guess the county I'm in is just way too oldschool.
 
+1

:agree2:

I guess they rather see it rot away instead of gettin any good use outta it...What a bunch of morons!!!!!!
It's like in Winchester Bay Ore...My friend said it used to be one of the best crabbing places untill all the eco freeks made the fish boats stop trowing overboard fish scraps,,and now it's like the dead sea for crabs....
 
ok....i don't understand something here. they hammer us for logging. saying we are ruining the world. but then they admit that the logging residue in the stream system is rital to the stream ecosystem. something does not seem right here!!

they don't like logging, but they like paper, cardboard boxes, toilet paper, and their food that gets shipped on wooden pallets, and they realize that logging residue is important. these people need to get a clue!

We are in the same state. Thank the Lord it is different here. In fact the state has little to say it is USCEC and they are good guys.

Bill
 
Hmm..around my parts we drive gigantic track-hoes through the creeks cleaning out and picking up all log jams. Talk about harsh soil compaction issues not to mention stream bed habitat destruction along with possible destruction of fish spawning areas just to name a few. Yet the county still runs these huge track hoes up and down the streams to clean them up every couple years. I guess the county I'm in is just way too oldschool.

Ohio is gonna be a lot different in that regard - #1 priority for ditches, streams, creeks, rivers, etc is drainage. One blockage will back up thousands of acres of farmland that depend on the county drainage system.

From the sort of stuff I hear out west, its Animals, Fish, Insects, Plants, and Humans in that order. Totally confounding to this midwesterner!
 
Ha! That is funny. Last year OSHA showed up to inspect 3 of the logging companies that were featured on AxMen. Now this guy gets busted for illegally slavaging WA state logs. Gott'a love it. Get filmed "logging" on that show and you are doomed! That show is rife with disaster and bozos at the controls, and whack job methods.
 
Ugh... reality show are going to be the death of us all... it's cool to be in the spotlight... until you really realize what comes with it...

I hate this sh1t... this is not what logging is about... I refuse to watch the show, and as of yet, I still have not watched a single episode...

What a farkin' joke... :dizzy:

Gary
 
This Aqua logging mob were an absolute circus. It looked like old Billy Bob got hold of a POS old barge and decided to con a few mates who had no idea to help him. The old diver guy looked like he was flat out moving with all the gear on him and was puffing like a steam train after 2 minutes of diving...
 
Ugh... reality show are going to be the death of us all... it's cool to be in the spotlight... until you really realize what comes with it...

I hate this sh1t... this is not what logging is about... I refuse to watch the show, and as of yet, I still have not watched a single episode...

What a farkin' joke... :dizzy:

Gary

Yah, sadly they are sensationalizing the events with a lot of editing. Makes for better TV I guess. Its their most-watched show. They are obviously goading the fallers and yarders to do stuff that they normally would not do. The guys seem to get big-headed pretty fast. I lived in the thick of logging country for 4 years, and never saw anything as whacked out as that show displays in 10 minutes.

Saw a crew slicking off a ridge going up to Mt Hood yesterday. I stopped and watched them for about 10 minutes. Falling, limbing, sorting, and stacking the logs on a landing. It was methodical, deliberate, and even paced. Typical of what I have seen here. Pros doing their job with good equipment. No revised Sherman tank yarder. No guy casting for logs with a yoder. No flames or smoke coming from the carriage. No logs rolling down the hillside.
 
Ugh... reality show are going to be the death of us all... it's cool to be in the spotlight... until you really realize what comes with it...

I hate this sh1t... this is not what logging is about... I refuse to watch the show, and as of yet, I still have not watched a single episode...

What a farkin' joke... :dizzy:

Gary

Gary,

Yep, when someone run the wrong oil mix ratio it kinda pi$$es me off too.

Joat
 

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