Helping Thin Yosemite downed trees

[MrWizard]

Hello Everyone.
  Being new to this forum please excuse me if I dont know where else to post my inquiry.  I live in Central Cal near the Yosemite Mountains and Park.  Being a wood worker The thought of being able to pull out some of the dead wood that lays in the forest is exciting.  I just dont know whom to contact or which service would have the answers to my questions.  I would love to be aloud to select some logs and mill them for table slabs and other items and help if that's even possible. 
1) Would it be better to mill on site and take out the useful wood or remove the logs and such to my location for milling?
2) Would this require a special permit, if any?
3) Any suggestions of how to help would be wonderful.

Again, I am just getting into this and the idea of milling my own wood is a great excitement and Being so close to one of America's grand forest's is a bonus.
Thanks in advance.

[thecfarm]

What have you got for a mill? I don't have the answers,but probably if you could get the logs,no mechanical equipment would be allowed. But moving a 4 foot log is easier than moving one 16 feet long too. But than again who knows,if you don't try.

[Ianab]

Who's land?
There will be all sorts of red tape and hoops to jump through to even do salvage logging on public land. There may be "Firewood" permits you can get easily, but those generally exclude collecting saw logs.

Of course it will cost nothing to ask the various authorities. They may actually want material removed to lessen the fire risk etc?

Milling on site or moving logs? Depends on access and machinery available. You may find it easier to get permission to cut with a chainsaw type mill that can be carried to the log? Not high production stuff, but practical for a woodworker doing log salvage.

My mill is designed to be hauled into the middle of no where and cut large logs where they lay. It's fast enough to move the whole mill to different logs etc. Other mills are much heavier to move, and need good access to the site.

Log sources? Ask around. If you have a mill, logs tend to appear. Yard trees need to be removed. Trees blow down in storms. Land owners just want trees gone so they have grazing areas etc. You generally need a way to recover those logs, because the owner wants them gone, but a decent trailer, ramps and a winch can get that done.

Ian

[clearcut]

Welcome to the forum.

The Northern and Southern Chapters of the Society of American Foresters are having their summer meeting discussing the economic impacts of large fires using the Rim Fire as an example. I don't know if there is someone at that meeting who could answer your specific questions. Event details below.

Now the bad news. Dead trees in the park itself, unless they are hazard trees, are usually left to rot in place as part of ecological succession. Hazard trees are removed by licensed contractors and sold if possible.  At least this was the policy during the last large fire. This tends to be a large scale affair and it is unlikely they will allow you to clean up a tree or two. You could always contact the park and see what they say. It never hurts to ask.

The US Forest Service is the largest landowner impacted and will often have firewood for personal use type areas set up. Whether you can get a millable log or two from that situation is debatable. Contact your local USFS office to see what they have available and how to obtain permits.

Private landowners were also affected. However in California if there is financial consideration involved, the landowner will need a Timber Harvest Plan or exemption in order to sell or barter trees. You will have to become a Licensed Timber Operator to legally harvest timber off of someone's land. Contact the California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) for more info here.

Event Details
Northern and Southern California SAF 2014 Summer Meeting
Date:    Friday, August 22, 2014 - Saturday, August 23, 2014
Event Topic:    Fire
URL:    norcalsaf.org
Location:    Black Oak Casino Resort
Tuolumne, CA
Category 1-CF Hours:    5.5
Category 1-FCA Hours:    0.0
Category 2 Hours:    0.0
Description:    Economic and Environmental Impacts of Large Wildfires. Using the recent Rim Fire as background, the meeting will discuss environmental and economic impacts of large wildfires. Saturday is an all-day field trip. Friday - 0.5 hours Cat 1-CF Saturday 5 hours Cat 1-CF
Contact Info:    Kevin Locke
Email: ncsaf@mcn.org
Phone: 800-738-8733

[tule peak timber]

excellent post ClearCut. Mr Wizard , when I initially started my business, I did try to go though the USFS as suggested in the post and eventually found out that it was best to deal with one of the contractors and buy logs from them.Even buying small quantities of logs is difficult and unless you are a "player' the logs you buy will be at the bottom of the food chain .A romantic idea to save some of California's precious wood resources , remember this is California....................................... :(

[gimpy]

Look for logging trucks. Talk to the drivers. Mention you need logs. Also if you can, mention they can drop them off after the mills close, you pay cash and don't need a receipt. It worked for me.