Chat over Beer w/ Loggers, Crescent City, CA - Amusing

[M.D. Vaden]

Couple weeks ago, I was in Nor Cal for photography in the redwoods, and went to the lounge of a Mexican food place in Crescent City at night for a beer. A man next to me, from WA, began conversation and we chatted about forests. Later that night I learned he was like a retired helicopter pilot.

Early on, a couple of younger guys near us overheard and chimed in. They apparently make a living doing logging. And had a lot to say about how good logging practices are on the west coast. Particularly noting Oregon.

Although the helo pilot did not agree with all they said, I thought it was commendable how completely he let them have their say. It was interesting to listen to young loggers present a point of view from what was evidently a logging only life-experience.

It was in stark contrast to 4 Danish loggers I met in the past couple of months, who were older, more experienced, and from another logging or forest management part of the world.

Personally, I've got a place for logging and no logging. Just depends where, how, and how much. But I like to hear-out everybody who does the work just to see what they think, how long they've done it, what they know, what they don't know, and what their ideas are.

One reason I put "amusing" in the thread title ... it's not like the loggers were to be laughed at. It's how they and the pilot interacted.

 

[Brush Ape]

It was in stark contrast to 4 Danish loggers I met in the past couple of months, who were older, more experienced, and from another logging or forest management part of the world.

The main appreciable difference between logging there and doing it here is more of the forest management is done with satellites and computer programs which enhances the efficiency. Trimming the fat old Blagojevich used to say. lol

 

[AKDoug]

I live in an aviation heavy community. You run into all types when it comes to pilots. Some are just plain ass arrogant. They see stuff from the air and think it's ugly that you really can't see from the ground. Just based on this emotion, they think its "bad". Some are smart enough to understand how mankind and nature interact and realize that human interaction is not all bad. The one thing all pilots have in common is that they see stuff from a different physical perspective than us ground pounders see it.

Most helicopter pilots I interact with are from the industrial side of things; remote construction, mining and oil exploration. They are the heavy equipment operators of the pilot world and see things from a natural resources development viewpoint. Contrast that with a helicopter tour pilot and you'll get a completely different viewpoint.

 

[madhatte]

more of the forest management is done with satellites and computer programs which enhances the efficiency.

There's only so much that can be done remotely, even with the best software and imagery available, and most of that is related to planning and inventory. Any forestry agency still needs boots on the ground to verify that things are as they believe they are. Boundaries still need marked, trees need measured, streams need buffered, etc. We dirt foresters may be an endangered species, but we're not extinct yet.

 

[Brush Ape]

Bring beer.

 

[madhatte]

Fair enough. I know how things work.

 

[slowp]

There's only so much that can be done remotely, even with the best software and imagery available, and most of that is related to planning and inventory. Any forestry agency still needs boots on the ground to verify that things are as they believe they are. Boundaries still need marked, trees need measured, streams need buffered, etc. We dirt foresters may be an endangered species, but we're not extinct yet.

Yes. An example would be streams that show up on GPS layers, but that do not exist on the ground.
I've also run across streams inside units, that were missed. It works both ways.

One enviro group showed a picture of a deforested area to raise money. It was taken from the air in the middle of the winter. Underneath that layer of deep snow were healthy trees that were planted and growing well. I knew the area.

 

[madhatte]

Yes. An example would be streams that show up on GPS layers, but that do not exist on the ground.
I've also run across streams inside units, that were missed. It works both ways.

Zackly. That's a big part of my job. Streams, wetlands, critters, homesteads, military resources, etc. Gotta make the map agree with the ground.

 

[Samlock]

Forestry drones, Nathan. Get prepared.

 

[madhatte]

Forestry drones, Nathan. Get prepared.

Give me a dozen and I'll figure out how to use 'em for LiDAR reconnaissance!

 

[HuskStihl]

We dirt foresters may be an endangered species, but we're not extinct yet.

Definitely true. Until the Nate-Bot3000 comes online, that is (picture a WallE with coffee, snuff and donettos)

 

[Gologit]

Definitely true. Until the Nate-Bot3000 comes online, that is (picture a WallE with coffee, snuff and donettos)

Snuff? SNOOSE! Sheesh, Texans.

 

[HuskStihl]

Snuff? SNOOSE! Sheesh, Texans.

TruDat. I actually have no idea what donetto's even are.

 

[northmanlogging]

go to the Kum + Go/7-11 find the hostess rack... look for a bag full of chocolaty goodness... unless your all about White Powder...

 

[Gologit]

They're one of the basic logger food groups, along with caffeine and nicotine.

They're actually Donettes but with the usual Left Coast poetic license and free spirited pronunciation they're always referred to as Donettos.

They're made out of sugar and starch and pseudo chocolate and a whole list of chemical ingredients that I have trouble pronouncing. They have an active shelf life roughly the same as nuclear waste. Their nutritional value is about the same as cardboard but they're very filling. They're best when combined with 7-11 coffee, Baby Ruth candy bars, and any kind of beef jerky.
They're a very handy size for eating whole and washing down with a slurp of coffee. One Donetto, one slurp, drive the crummy one handed at high speed in the dark sliding sideways around the switchbacks and tune the radio with your elbow.
One of our crews showed up late one morning. Their excuse was that the usual 7-11 was out of Donettos and they had to run clear across town to stock up. We understood.

 

[slowp]

Ya beat me to it. The boxes are preferred, I believe. They fit better on the dash of crummies and log trucks. I hitched a ride out in a log truck once. There was a box of chocolate covered ones on the dash. The driver never offered any. Oh well...he was saving me from spending a long, cold night in a stuck in the snow pickup. It was the day when all radios were in the shop to get checked.

 

[HuskStihl]

Those look...................................Awesome!

 

[madhatte]

Snoose is forester-optional... coffee and "Donettos"? Not so much. I prefer the chocolate ones, and black coffee, in case any of you ever need to know that.

EDIT: dammit, you got me misspellin' things

 

[Gologit]

Those look...................................Awesome!

Good choice of words.

 

[northmanlogging]

I like my sugar with coffee and cream...

yum... baby ruth...