Adirondack logging

rockman · December 24, 2011, 08:52:44 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frp0egKBkXA&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLF040645AA8A6E8AF

Thought you might enjoy this short history from where I will always call home.

Kevin

mad murdock · December 24, 2011, 09:49:56 PM

thanks for posting. interesting vid.

T Welsh · December 25, 2011, 05:52:57 AM

rockman, Thanks for posting, I first visited the park as a boy scout on a canoe trip in the early 70,s and my last visit was a couple of years ago on my motorcycle with my best friend just wandering through the park exploring the beauty! Tim

FFLM · December 25, 2011, 07:18:07 AM

Thanks for posting, a real nice vid and from the college I went to. Lots of great times spent in the ADKS.
Hope everyone have a great christmas

celliott · December 25, 2011, 07:47:57 AM

Very interesting video, thanks for posting. FFLM, my school too (current).

JDeere · December 25, 2011, 08:51:07 AM

Thanks for posting. I have a good friend who is a logger in that area and I will forward the video to him.

Merry Christmas

rockman · December 25, 2011, 08:20:55 PM

MY in-laws made a cd of thier old photo's for us for Christmas, some of them are of my father-in-law with his new Pettibone skidder in the late 50's and some of the sawmill they moved into the woods where they were cutting. If I wasn't such an Idiot I'd post the pic's in this post but until I learn you'll have to view them in my gallery.
Merry Christmas,
Kevin

Ken · December 26, 2011, 07:00:33 AM

Thanks for posting. Great video. My grandfather who is now 89 spent many years working in the winter bush camps in the Nashwaak watershed. He has some great stories to tell. I can only imagine the bravery of the river drivers.

Beefie · December 26, 2011, 07:30:47 AM

Thanks for posting Rockman, Very interesting video. Going out East is in my bucket list for things to do in the next 5 years. Looking forward to more pics.

Beefie

John Mc · December 26, 2011, 08:08:32 AM

I used to live in the Syracuse area, and spent a LOT of time backpacking through the area in all seasons of the year (-20°F in the high peaks was "interesting'. Sleeping wasn't so bad, since we had good tents and sleeping bags rated for the temperature. Cooking dinner was not much fun.) A really beautiful part of the country. One of the areas we parked the vehicles was labeled as "sled harbor" on our trail map... way off the end of a barely passable dirt road. I'm told the area was where they pulled the log sleds out to.

rockman · December 26, 2011, 03:35:28 PM

Let's see if I have this photo thing figured out.

rockman · December 26, 2011, 03:36:36 PM

Hot DanG, I think I got it..

rockman · December 26, 2011, 03:40:34 PM

KBforester · December 26, 2011, 09:42:24 PM

I worked as a forester in the ADK's for two years and miss the beautiful landscape.

But I'll tell you, there's nothing in forestry that bothers me more than thousands of acres of "Forever wild" scotch pine plantations. They may not be officially invasive, but they should be.

John Mc · December 27, 2011, 08:46:54 AM

Yeah, those Scots Pine were kind of a bust, weren't they? Our neighbors had a small planting of them on their property when they bought the land. The farmer who owned it was going to sell them as Christmas trees. He never sold a single one. In fact, never harvested any of them for anything. The neighbors took them all down and turned it into pasture for their horses.

rockman · December 27, 2011, 11:22:18 AM

It's my opinion that the "Forever wild" concept needs to be re-evaluated. I sure do have fond memories of logging the Adirondacks in the 70's-80's, didn't make much money but had some great times.

Kevin

tapper2 · December 27, 2011, 07:46:16 PM

I currently live in Queensbury N.Y. Just on the edge of the Adirondacks, but I'm from the Gore mountain area and still own a woodlot in Wevertown. It's really an awesome area. It's the southern zone. Every weekend I try to just go up and look around, still quite a bit of logging. There are some areas up there owned by the state that are still old growth. Some areas near Speculator still have trees 5&6 foot across. We usually stop to check them out when snowmobiling. Next time we're up there, we'll grab some pics. Really awesome.
My in-laws harvested some oak from their lot this year and some were 30" & really straight.
Forever wild is quite an annoyance for us here. Many camping sites are no longer accessible because the state's giving up on trail maintenance and when asked if we could fix the trails, they claim "FOREVER WILD" means no.

celliott · December 27, 2011, 08:14:04 PM

I was told that the scotch pine that was originally imported and planted was from poor genetic stock, before genetics was really understood I guess. That's why all the scotch pine have the twisted tops and poor form. In Europe it does have good form.

As for the forever wild label, I agree it could be re-evaluated, but likely nothing will come of it. There is a bill being pushed in the NY senate to allow harvesting on one section of land that will be acquired by the ADK park agency. The land in question is former Finch Pruyn timberlands, a forest that's been managed for years. The Nature conservancy bought the land from Finch Pruyn and then NY state bought the land from TNC at 3.7 million more. I am not sure if this bill has passed or not, or if it is still in the works.

In any case, the ADK's are a great place to be, regardless.

rockman · December 27, 2011, 08:28:37 PM

Tapper2, I am from Minera, my wife was the bank manager in North Creek for a few years.

tapper2 · December 27, 2011, 08:47:20 PM

Small world, I went to Johnsburg Central. I'm sure you know my family, my grandparents are The Allens from Edwards Hill rd. in Bakers Mills. My grandfather was a teamer/sawyer/tapper/electrician....... he grew up in the time when work was all that....work.
When he was young he worked out in Foxx Lair, on the way to Wells NY. Those guys used steam shovels and water driven mills to build roads and bridges in that area.
He doesn't think much of the money grubbing politicians of the area. He's got a lot on the edge of a huge "forever wild" state lot of over 1000 acres, and they tried to claim eminent domain on his 2 acre lot!! >:( He's 87 now and still runs his sawmill/tractors/dozer and all quite often.
I'm sure your wife will know him.

He's got some beautiful spruce on his back lot that he wants to get some day, I'll have to get up there and help with the skidder.

rockman · December 27, 2011, 09:42:37 PM

Tapper2, Would your Grandfathers name be Earl? Yes my wife knows him. Back in the day I used to haul logs to Duane Dunkley's mill. Wow, that was about the time you were born. It is a small world.

Kevin

tapper2 · December 28, 2011, 07:41:59 PM

Yeah, that's him! He bought a lot of lumber from Duane... Duane's mill got bought up by a Canadian outfit. They came in, disassembled all equipment and hauled it away. I remember watching them run the mill when I was a teenager.

Gotta love Dogtown!! ;)

rockman · December 29, 2011, 06:54:09 PM

Back in the 80's I hauled wood for Butch Thissel, I went to school with his wife Wanda. And I have spent a few evenings at J&J'S..

tapper2 · December 29, 2011, 08:08:08 PM

Butch is still goin'!! I too have been dragged out of the double hook. Great to hear some old time stories from the old timers at the gin mill. There used to be so many mills up there. Grist Mills, Sawmills, Shingle mills, you name it. Most were water powered. (Think you could get APA approval for one now?) ;)

My grandfather still has the lineshaft and waterwheel assembly hardware from the mill that was on the creek on Edwards Hill rd. just above Duane's mill. He's tried to sell it a few times. Noone really wants things like that anymore.

HiTech · December 30, 2011, 05:27:36 AM

I agree forest and watershed protection is a must...but to a degree. Once you get a canopy forest...nothing grows new...not even wildlife. I can show you many places in the Adirondack's that sunlight never hits the ground. I feel some sort of low impact logging would prove beneficial. Perhaps with horses and very select cutting or smaller skidders that leave smaller footprints. Neatness does matter to more people than you may think. Mother Nature thinned some of the Park in "95". I can't begin to fathom the amount of lumber left to rot. The Emporium and Rich lumber companies were in the Cranberry Lake/Wanakena area years ago. My grandfather worked for many of these companies. With diving equipment you can still see some of the monster trees that are in the bottom of Cranberry Lake that were left from the logging era. I still have two of my grandfathers crosscut saws. My father had them sharpened my an old gent at the Ranger School in Wanakena back in the 50's. He used them to clear a lot for his camp. They weren't XP saws but they drew nice shavings.

What used to take all winter now can be done in a week or two. Harvesters and huge skidders that pull a truck load at at time. Is big really better? Would timber prices be better if the market wasn't continually flooded? Many go to chips but that isn't the answer either. By the time everything is paid for, it is just cash flow. Diesel fuel prices are outrageous not to mention repair bills and insurances. I sometimes wonder what the future will bring and where we are headed. The good thing is there are places in the Adirondack's that will take your breath away.