They certainly were impressed that a female had such a tough field job in the industry. The teachers watched as Joe Young and his crew demonstrated the high tech equipment used in modern logging operations. The forwarder then stacks and carries the saw timber to a waiting truck to be carried to the sawmill and made into valuable lumber. Skidders bring the smaller sections of the trees to be delimbed and sent to the whole tree chippers, which remove the bark and chip the trees into small wood chips. Wood chips are more economical and safer to transport on the highway to the paper mills than whole trees.
Trees are a renewable natural resource, unlike coal, which is non-renewable.
I wasn t aware that all of the tree was used. The rest of the afternoon was spent with employees of the Francis Marion National Forest, learning about prescribed fire, longleaf ecosystem restoration and managing for endangered species such as the red-cockaded woodpecker. Forest Service employees discuss managing forests for endangered species. Using artificial nesting cavities, Francis Marion National Forest has show success in bringing back the habitat lost during Hugo for the red-cockaded woodpecker. This stop along the Palmetto trail was appropriately named for the hot summer day during the tour.