The Times Standard from Eureka, California • Page 99

February 1954 "A CENTURY'OF Section 5-Page Three BOLDT-TIMES 'CENTENNIAL I I EUREKA 1854 1954 ration More Than 200 Men Employed In Big Lagoon Log Scene By MEL LAVINE- Each year Hammond Lumber Company's Big Lagoo operation produces nbout $30,000,000 worth of Redwoo nnd Douglas Fir, The I forestland. predominantly Redwooe the company has owned for almost half a century, one of the largest logging areas in the United States. Som 1 00 miles of road wind through its rugged terrain and from hill-top you can sell well the vast expanse of floating tim ber on the 80-ncre log pond. Million In Lumber Big Lagoon's seven departments employ approximately 200 men. They are the choppers and riggers nnd whistle punks, chasers and splicers, drivers and maintenance men.

A logging job is still hard labor in spite of the many modern Industrial developments and logging still ranks first as the toughest and most vital occupation county. The spr.iwllng forest Includes Redwood Creek 12 miles cast of Crannell, the former site of the logging camp. Hammond also logs in two other areas in Ihimboldt county, at Elk River and Carlotta. The Big operation, however, yields mmunlly some 70,000,000 board feet of lumber--about 70 per cent of the redwood company's entire logging production. Present-day logging is a mammoth operation and involves huge bulldozers, tractors, archers and other heavy-duty equipment.

There are 20 logging truckr, fo example, busy hauling the tlm ber from the landings during UK. day. Roads are always being repaired and extended into new virgin stands. The main roads were originally built to tap the main timber stands. The logging roads are good a Big Lagoon but like all mountain roads they arc steep and winding.

The Umber is hauled from Big Lagoon to Crannell where it is loaded onto flatcars and the company-owned railroad the timber to its main plant ni Samoa. The whole operation is company-run. Hammond gets 11s timber from its own woods, conveys the timber on Us own trucks and flat cars, and processes the timber at its own mills. Logging boss at Big Lagoon is youthful, business-like Gray Evans. A former navy officer and graduate of the University of California's forestry school at Berkeley in 1033, Evans started out on the bottom rung of the logging ladder 18 years ago.

He has been superintendent for three ycr.rs. The chain which has been widely used by the industry since 1945, has done much to revolutionize the industry. Up'until then, most logging operations used the drag saw, a cumbersome tool powered by gas nnd considerably less efficient than the chain saw. The chain saw weighs about 60 pounds and has a 5 to 7 horsepower motor. Before 1035 timber falling was done by hand.

The choppers work In pairs and they arc paid on the basis of the amount of timber they cu down. An experienced team ca fall and buck six redwood tree a day but that is assuming th diameters of the trucks are les than 6 feet and that they do no encounter difficulty in plannin thc falling. There should be an even plan ral OI thc tree to a1 Evans said In Humboldt and tcn bulldozer must clea thc ground of slash first. Big Lagoon Then, too, he pointed out, the Iree is leaning, Ihe chopper may have lo saw a wedge-shape snoul oul of Ihe Irunk in Ihe dl reclion of the flat land whcr they want the tree to crash. Choppers to saw the fall en timber Into logs before th logs can be peeled and dragge out of the woods lo the landing During the summer month bulldozers and archers handl most of the hauling from.

th woods. In the winter, heavy-dut loaders, called donkeys carry thj timber to the landing by mean of elaborate wire rigging. Ther more timber hauled out dur ing thc summer and the surplu is stored In thc log pond unti winter for the mills. The pone has a capacity of 30,000 boarc feet. The most strenuous Job 1 that of the peeler--Ihe man who strips the heavy bark from the redwood before the log Is taken to the landing.

He works will relatively crude instrumenls principally a peeling bar. The peeler supplies most of his own power--from his arms and back Most of the redwoods loggcc are about 250 feet high and 1,200 years old. There are redwoods in Humboldt county over 4,000 years old but you will fine hem virtually only in private ant) fate groves. Each Hammond, like others in the logigng business is aced with the problem of keep- ng fire out of its woods. Most ires are caused by carelessness and at Bis Lagoon- every man is rained in lire prevention and uppresslon.

The Big 'Lagoon Fire Patrol consists of six persons during thc fire season. They are quartered at the southeast end of the camp. The station is equipped with a wo-way radio, a telephone, and wealhcr Instruments. Reports are made at least three times daily nnd in hazardous weather, more often. Ready for immediate use are wo trucks with tanks of 200-gallon capacity.

The trucks arry hand tools for 15 men, 1,00 feet of hose, hose nozzles, cx- tngulshcrs and back-pack cans. At the eleven landings In the saw, Evans said, orest there is a ,2000 gallon tank Wooodsineii Prepare To; Fell Tree TI I I I 1 1 There is saddening beauty in this photo, as woodsmen prepare to fell another tree in their march of woods operations. methods are faster nnd surer, and a woodsman covers a greater This i i i 4 scene is repeated many times over Humboldt and Del Norte counties. in a trailer which can be pulled tractors or logging trucks. In ddition, each landing has a atrolman who lives nearby in house trailer.

Big Lagoon's fire record has ccn outstanding. Evans said that recent seasons there have been no losses in production, -down mber oij -standing 'timber due fire." After an area has been logged ic slash is burned to prevent future fire leaving a can ground. Assistant camp oss Ed Griffith pointed out that ils makes a good seed bed for eforcstatlon. 'We are rcsoedlng the tlm er as it Is cut down," he snic iVe leave so many seed tree Big Trees Call For Hardy; Equipment i I i i Northern California'11 big trees provide a constant challenge for men and equipment. a result sturdy, light saws have been developed, and one man can face up to tree with ease.

Here sawyer proceeds with the initial cuts in the felling of giant. acre and natural reproduction Logging Boom. Goes Into Action I Typical of Northern California logging operations is the above scene, where large lumber boom swings a Jog onto a logging truck. High powered machinery makes operations among the giants possible. Though the time has -bee short, it is possible now to'tak a brief backward look which, a thc same time, should serve a an insight into- the futrc Humboldt county's 're source--the forest.

Whatever credit may be du for the strides which hav been made since 1950, it must shared equally between the for cst products industry and th public. For without the under standing of thc public, there coulc be no tree farms, no participa lion in achieving a community interest. After starting from scratch, th public now knows that tre. farms are a private undertaking The public knows that througl tree farming, Umber owners arc operating their land on the basi of conlinuous production. Th public knows jhat this mean- future taxes and payrolls, pay- ment.for goods and services to help assure the future stability Farms Protect Future Of The Area takes over.

"That doesn't mean we have to wait 500 years before it can be logged," he added. "We can log 40 or 50 years. The trees will be smaller but we can harvesl it least the same volume in acres." According to Hammond officials, there is 40 to 50 years left of virgin timber log- ling at Big Lagoon. Logging has changed a great deal since thc days of thc railroad. Ten years ago ths company's rail line ran through the Torest nnd carried the big logs to he mills.

But since the war the og hauling has been done by trucks. The tracks'remain, though, a silent reminder of things passe Many of the vehicles are equipped with two-way radios and each landing makes an hourly radio report to the camp's office. Thus, barring the unforeseen, thc flow of logging steadily around- day. traffic moves the' eight-hour In thtf summer. 150,000 board feet are logged by tractors in a day while about 80,000 feet are oesed during the winter.

Rough- the summer season is from May 15 to October-15. The winter rains turn much of the area into a veritable sea of slick, appalling mud, making he going slower and harder. It for this season that the switch made from tractor to donkey ogging. A Severe As the winters'of ten are, he operation, though, rarely huts down. They manage to keep tf he big trucks rolling 12 months a year at Big Lagoon of Humboldt county.

The public has done its part and is continuing to exert its influence in protecting all timber and wild lands from uncon trolled fire. Through the Redwood Region 'Conservation council, thc state division of forestry and other civic organizations, the public has developed a conserva lion consciousness which ha made possible thc atmosphere in which tre farms can flourish. The mechanics, the planninj and the sweat to make tree farm ing work is up to industry. These past three years have shown through this industry-pub- partnership a progress. hard- iy believed possible only a shor time ago.

Within thc industry Itself, there is less resistance to conservation of our fores resources through tree farming Trie stable elements in the ndustry are planning for permanent operation. Of course tree farming anc any other type of conservation can be successful only if prac- ical. Fortunately, the propdr mo- ives are in place--the motives o- make a profit not only this fear but each year to follow; For ree farming Is only a simple way of saying "forest ts practicability has been large- proven. Now, in February" 1954, well excess of 10 per cent of the cdwood timbcrlands of thc rc- ion are already in tree farms. Not only do these farms include edwood, but Douglas fir and ithcr species as well.

Some of the largest are in iumboldt county. An overwhclm- ng proportion of the remainder 3f the acreage is being managed with an eye to qualifying for ree farming. And each year, the icreage figure will mount. It is this steady movement In he direction of forest- management that makes tree farming the most dynamic movement in the ong history of the forest pro- lucts i Nationwide, the tree farm program is administered by the American 'Forest -Products Inci, of Washington, organization financed, en ircly from private funds. AFPI has granted- the California Redwood Association the privilege certifying timber growing ands in thc Redwood region, rc- ardlcss of species, which meet he standards.of tree farming.

Thc area in farms re certified Jby 'the CRA in- ludcs Del Norte, Humboldt, Men- ocino, Sonoma, Marin, San Ma, tea, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties a small portion of Slskiyou. Tree farms located elsewhere in the state are certified by the Western Pine Association. The incentive to become a tree farmer are the normal Incentives to stay In business--to manage the properly to produce crops for profit on a conlinuous basis. There are no tax advantages to the tree farmer alone. He must pay taxes on the basis asany other timber land owner.

Foriunalely, thc Redwood region Is blessed prpbably more than anyothor with just thc right ingredients of soil, moislurc and weather conditions to provide maximum tree growlh per year. The redwood Irco ilself Is among Ihe fastest growing of the commercial conifers. The tree.also! lends Itself rather easily to trac tor logging-, in times of good weather and over favorable terrain, This means that trees can be selected and cut when mature, leaving the young, vigorous trees to grow wood more rapidly. Under tree farm management, seed bearing trees arc left in strategic locations to provide a source for thc new crop. Redwood trees also reproduce by growing Jrom stumps left during harvesting.

All these factors help make tree farming practical in the Redwood region. With thc closer utilization that can be expected in the future, thc orderly reduction of virgin timber and greater dependence on young growth for lumber and variety of products, with im- agination, planning and progress the tree farmers of Humboldt county can make important contribution to thc county's fii lure welfare. SERVED 15,000.000 clubs grew out of two distinct needs. The first was lo-eni- phnsizc the importance of- farm youth; the second, to improve agricultural practices and methods The 4-11 clubs of Californln me a of the University of California and have been recognized as such since 1923. Today the 4-H is the world's largest rural youth organization, having served 15 million boys-and girls since its inception.

has developed belter farmers, citizens nnd-lead- ers. Seeds of 4-H are now growing in 21 different countries. Typical 1 Small Mill Ope raticviif in JHumboldt "of smaller in fmm P.m-koruill,." U. i of smaller Vmill in Humboldt, located in the hearfof the forest country is by'W. L.

Brix, not far from Here, logs from Ihe millpond are scene bending for the of this stable operation..