In the beginning . . . there were ants

It's a busy time of year when spring finally emerges from the frosty nights and blustery days. Every project that winter inspired becomes more urgent as the short summer approaches and setting our priorities becomes paramount. Thank goodness our talented lead hand is also patient as we jump from one job to the next and he struggles to divide his time into our list of wants.

This is the year we have to deal with the considerable amount of bug killed pine that peppers our little forest. The trees are standing dead, but just barely standing, as root rot and ant colonies conspire to fall them before we do. We have to be very careful and keep our wits about us because they will sometimes fall without provocation . . . unnerving and dangerous . . . and the sound of wind is a warning to make your way to a clearing . . . heads up!

The Pine Beetles that eat the cambrian layer and kill the tree, cause a stain that penetrates the tree for several inches in some cases. This stained wood when sawn produces a spectacular show of blue grey wood mixed with the typical white pine. The stain does not appear to fade or run so the wood can be finished to enhance this natural beauty. We have been burning this wood in the home fires while lamenting the destruction of these beautiful trees and the huge waste of potential lumber and wood products that are falling all around us. This winter we decided to do something to at least deal with the trees on our own land, so we bought a four head Logosol planer to add some value to the rough sawn lumber that is commonplace here. . .

Planing our lumber is the final step in the production process . . . first we had to acquire all the support machinery that is needed to produce the rough lumber for the planer and to selectively log the trees and haul them to the mill, and clean up the branches and remove the stumps and build the roads etc etc. Also we had to provide shelter for the machinery and store the final product. This will be a record of how all that is coming together . . .