Women in forestry

Okrafarmer · February 25, 2012, 02:19:01 PM

Quote from: Ryan D on February 25, 2012, 01:16:58 PM
We get that a lot too. The one i don't understand is the guys that work during the hottest part of the day just because they don't want to get up early. When it gets hot in the summer i like to be on the block as soon as the sun is coming up so that i can be gone before it gets too crazy hot.

What! Hot in Nova Scotia! You can't possibly mean over 95 degrees!

SwampDonkey · February 25, 2012, 02:20:13 PM

Welcome to the forum Ryan. What part of NS do you guys cut brush? Year before last we had a lot of 97's from mid June to Mid August. And I can tell ya I could barely walk out at 2:00 pm. I hate those kind of summers. I'd rather have rain.

Okrafarmer · February 25, 2012, 02:41:44 PM

Quote from: Okrafarmer on February 25, 2012, 02:19:01 PM
What! Hot in Nova Scotia! You can't possibly mean over 95 degrees!

Ok, I take that back. Well, I am very sorry you had to endure that. I have to endure that a lot down here and it makes me wish I was back in your latitude where I seem to remember a lot of 65-70 degree summer days in Maine, you know. But when it does get over 90, you just about die because you don't see it coming >:(

Welcome, Ryan!

Ryan D · February 25, 2012, 02:44:56 PM

Haha hot is all relative i guess. I dont deal so well with the heat. We had the same weather 2 summers ago. I ended up in an air conditioned excavator part way through the summer though which was a nice reprive from the heat.

Swamp, we cut mostly in central NS, but i'll travel just about anywhere for the right piece of ground

Okrafarmer · February 25, 2012, 03:10:44 PM

I don't deal too well with the heat either. Yesterday it got to be about 70 and I was starting to sweat, and hating it. It's all downhill from here until November. :-\

SwampDonkey · February 25, 2012, 03:53:25 PM

Haven't had a fire for 24 hrs here, must be a heat wave. It's still 75 in the house. 8)

Rocky_Ranger · February 25, 2012, 10:05:37 PM

Well, I've always been around women in forestry from about the first start. They were in college (a good thing), and they were originally pushed in the Federal Government to bring their numbers up. Now, they don't count any more than us white guys. I have probably 50% of my staff as women here - was about 75% on my last Ranger District. Still not a lot of true foresters, lots of "ologists" & "ists", but some are foresters. I have about 240 employees here, and I'd say we are close to 50% - all in one heap. Some disciplines have more and some have less. I see the days as one group or the other, having something to prove is gone now........

WDH · February 25, 2012, 10:43:03 PM

50% is a whack! Forestry Industry is much, much less than 50% for sure. Half that or less.

Okrafarmer · February 25, 2012, 10:58:12 PM

Uh-oh. Is it acceptable to refer to a whack of women? ???

:-[

Texas Ranger · February 26, 2012, 12:47:55 AM

Some might whack back. 8)

SwampDonkey · February 26, 2012, 05:30:06 AM

Any women I have seen working in the bush were doing surveys for birds, climate and regen surveys. Never seen any logging supervisors or compliance officers. Never see one as a forest ranger around here. I pretty much know them all around here.

Rocky_Ranger · February 26, 2012, 09:51:51 AM

Right now, two of five rangers are women - it shifts between that and three of five. Primary staff are currently 7 women and 6 men (of 13). Fire positions are weighted heavily toward men; administrative weighted toward women. As I said earlier, "ologists" and "ists" are about 50:50. Not many in the woods working as loggers, in fact I don't know any (but that don't mean much, since I don't know many of the loggers personally).

Kansas · February 28, 2012, 05:57:04 AM

I had the good fortune to meet estiers from this forum awhile back. They set traps every year around the sawmill to check for bugs. Its been mostly women that come out to put them up. Known a few skidder operators that were women. Know one walnut log buyer for a major company that's a woman. Think we have one district forester in Kansas that is a woman. Still, around here, its mostly men. I have never met a woman logger.

WDH · February 28, 2012, 07:43:52 AM

I have met one female logger in SE Oklahoma. She was a Choctaw Indian.

Okrafarmer · February 28, 2012, 07:46:52 AM

I do know a lady whose husband went to Vietnam in those days, and they lived in Wisconsin or Michigan at the time. She had trouble making ends meet for her and the kids at home, so she went in the woods and cut pulp wood to put food on the table and pay the bills. She didn't do it any longer than she felt she had to, but I tell you what, you don't want to mess with her, even today! She had maybe two kids at the time, eventually they had nine, I know all of them, and they are all outstanding productive people today.

Ron Scott · February 28, 2012, 05:58:17 PM

I've had and known a few female loggers (lumber jills) on some of my jobs over the years. Three were cutters, three were skidder operators, and two drove woodhauler.

I've had a number of female firefighters on my fire crews. One was a helicopter crewboss when I was on a helishot fire team in California.

A recent Chief of the U.S. Forest Service was a female.

Phorester · February 29, 2012, 09:30:07 PM

I think I've related this before, but there is one lady logger in my area. I'm guessing she's in her 50's now, but I'm not asking. She started in the woods with her Dad while she was in high school. Never finished high school. Never married. I suspect that boys/men her age were intimidated by her prowess with a chainsaw and hard work. She never backed down from any job in the woods. When I first met her 30+ years ago she had a fresh chainsaw scar across her face, running from one cheek up across the bridge of her nose and above her eye. Can't hardly see it now. She runs chainsaw, skidder, loader, bulldozer, trucking. Her Dad screwed blocks of wood on the truck pedals so she could reach them. When her dad died, she took over the company. Just her and 1 or 2 men working for her. Still in business. She does everything from buying the standing trees to the paperwork.

submarinesailor · March 02, 2012, 08:57:03 AM

Phorester

I think I met her one time at that old mill on the west down hill side of RT 50. Didn't have much of a chance to talk and for the life of me I can't remember her name. Is that mill still up and running. It's been there as long as I can remember.

Bruce

fuzzybear · March 02, 2012, 01:04:22 PM

When my wife started working with me I was scared to let her near the chainsaw, but being a woman and French on top of that, she decided I had to teach her everything. I have to say I never had a man learn as fast as she did.
When it came time to learn how to fall, I started her on small 8" trees, she quickly learned the proper way for falling and moved on to the big stuff. She has gotten to the point she can hit a pop can dead on with the top of the tree.
I have found that women are not afraid to ask questions, and are more attentive to details than the men I have trained. On equipment they seem more likely to find a problem before it gets to bad, no turning the radio louder to drown out the motor that's ready to blow.
With 3 children, and no real schools here, she decided to take an on line course in conservation. So far she has aced everything. Last night she finished her classes for firearm safety so she can buy her own rifle and hunt for herself. She aced every part of it.
I love my wife and am very proud of her. It's only been 5 years since she learned English, but she is taking all of her classes and test in English. She has an awsome work ethic and is not afraid to try new things.
It must be a Yukon thing, but there are a lot of women working in the bush in forestry and gold mining. The men here have learned that any job a man can do a woman can do also, usually with a lot less hassle. One mining camp has a workforce of 75% women and he swears he has never had bigger production with a crew of all men.
FB

Ron Scott · March 02, 2012, 04:01:31 PM

We had some women coal miners in West Virginia. They were mining the 36 inch coal seams far undeground working on their hands and knees.

fuzzybear · March 02, 2012, 04:49:38 PM

If you look back to WWII it was the women that won the war for the men. If not for them filling all the positions they did, there would have been a very different ending. They did everything that the men did, logging, building roads, building homes and skyscrapers. They build every aircraft, tank, and ship, every rifle, bullet, and uniform.
Ask your Mothers and Grandmothers what they did during the war. You might be suprised!!
I met an 86yo woman from Idaho several years ago, she flew into our camp and landed, not an easy job on our runway. She was a bush pilot during the war and was flying suplies into the bases all over the north. She later flew supplies to the gold camps. She had a lot of stories. We were sad to see her leave because we knew it was the last time we would see her. Her first name was Margaret, she was from Sandpoint Idaho.
FB

Ron Scott · March 02, 2012, 06:06:54 PM

A "Lumber Jill" at work with her chain saw.

Phorester · March 03, 2012, 07:52:29 AM

Quote from: submarinesailor on March 02, 2012, 08:57:03 AM
Phorester

I think I met her one time at that old mill on the west down hill side of RT 50. Didn't have much of a chance to talk and for the life of me I can't remember her name. Is that mill still up and running. It's been there as long as I can remember.

Bruce

Her name is Penny. That is McFarlands Mill, and it is still in business after about 50 years or so. However they have scaled way back. They now only produce pallets, fence boards, things like that. McFarland has also started a retail shop selling woodworking equipment. This is a hobby of his he was able to turn into a business. Sells Rockler, Jet, other national brands. Sells exotic woods.
http://www.mcfarlandsmill.com/

Okrafarmer · March 03, 2012, 11:56:37 AM

There is a lady who is in charge of the dry kiln I am fixing to use. She is very excited and passionate about her work, loves new challenges in drying. She manages a very large facility here for a company that is based out of state. She has carefully learned how to manage the kiln and the drying procedures for many different species of wood.