Helicopter harvesting is an aerial harvesting system whereby logs are removed vertically from the forest and flown to a roadside landing or drop zone. Other aerial systems include the use of balloons and airships, but these have not been successful. Commercial helicopter harvesting has been carried out since the early 1970s in the Pacific Northwest of the USA and has proved to be a harvesting system with low environmental impact.
Helicopter harvesting was introduced to Sarawak in April 1993 when a local timber company, WTK Organization, brought in a Sikorsky S-64E aircrane to lift logs from forest areas with difficult terrain in the Kakus-Pandan Protected Forest. Because of its high production performance, its ability to lift logs out of forest areas where ground-based and cable systems cannot be used and the minimal damage it causes to the surrounding forest, the helicopter is now used by many timber operators in Sarawak. Currently, helicopter harvesting is concentrated in forest areas that are either inaccessible, or located on steep terrain that was not harvested previously by crawler tractors. As harvesting of the hill forests proceeds towards remote regions and more difficult terrain in Sarawak, the Forest Department is encouraging timber operators to intensify the use of helicopters in their future operations.
Currently, three types of helicopters are being used in various parts of Sarawak (Table 1). The helicopters can operate in a wide range of weather conditions except when foggy or misty conditions affect the visibility of the pilot or when there are turbulent winds. The Sikorsky S-64F has been used for harvesting for many years in the USA. The Oregon-based company operating this type of helicopter is, therefore, very experienced in helicopter logging. The Russian MIL 8 has been used for commercial helicopter harvesting in New Zealand since 1993 and also in Papua New Guinea. The KAMOV Ka-32 is the latest type of helicopter to be used for harvesting in Sarawak. Appendix 1 illustrates these three helicopters.
Other types of helicopters, which were brought in for use, included the Sikorsky S-64E, Chinook 234 and the MIL Mi-26, but these helicopters are not in service at the moment.
In most of the helicopter harvesting operations, a small support helicopter is necessary for transporting the tree fellers to remote logging blocks, spotting missing logs, bringing spare parts to the base camp, aerial reconnaissance, forward planning and for overall supervision of the operations.
The felling operation has to be planned properly, coordinated and monitored by the timber operator to ensure that the helicopter has an adequate volume of logs to lift each day during the period when it is stationed in the operating area of the timber concession. It is even more critical when the timber operator utilizes different types of helicopters to lift logs from the same area. This is because the felling crew has to select the right trees to be felled depending on which helicopter is coming in first to do the lifting. Felling of trees is normally carried out at least two to four weeks before the helicopter is scheduled to arrive. A felling crew of two persons can only cut down an average of five trees per day because of the difficult working conditions and the need to select good, merchantable trees for felling.
After a tree has been felled, it has to be bucked properly to ensure an optimum load per trip but not exceeding the lifting capacity of the helicopter. The log is then clearly painted with numbers so that it can be spotted easily and identified by the helicopter pilot. Heavy logs are also distinguished by special symbols.
The tree feller has to prepare the log for lifting by removing any obstacles from the log and ensuring that it has been cut cleanly at both ends with no hang-ups. To ensure that the logs are visible to the helicopter pilot, the felling crew sometimes fell surrounding trees. Normally this is not necessary because a sufficiently large canopy opening is created when the tree falls to the ground. The felling crews are trained by the loadmasters or felling supervisors of the helicopter companies in the proper felling techniques and the preparation of logs for the helicopter to lift.
After the trees have been cut, the helicopter is brought in to extract the logs. Lifting is done using a long line attached to the main aircraft frame with a grapple at the other end. The length of the long line ranges from 75 to 100 m. Different types of grapples, which can be electrically, hydraulically or mechanically controlled, are used. The lifting operation is carried out without any assistance from the ground. The helicopter pilot has to be very experienced and well-trained for the pilot has to locate the prepared log and manoeuvre the helicopter so that the grapple is placed precisely on the log. The log is then lifted vertically out from the forest and flown to the roadside landing or drop zone. The flying range is kept within 2 km from the landing or drop zone for helicopter harvesting to be economically viable. Heavy logs, indicated with the special symbol, are lifted out during the last few turns before refuelling when the helicopter is lighter. Normally, one log is lifted per turn.
For the three types of helicopters, the lifting operation requires a flight crew of two pilots, one to fly the helicopter and control the grapple and the other to monitor the instruments in the aircraft. The helicopters involved in this type of work consume a large quantity of fuel and have to be refuelled every hour. Refuelling pads are therefore located close to the working areas.
The location of the landing or drop zones have to be planned properly and spaced out to facilitate the helicopter approach and to ensure optimum flying distance.
The logs are placed gently at the landing or drop zone by the helicopter to avoid damage or breakage. Experienced pilots will normally place the logs in an orderly manner. A landing receives a substantial volume of logs each day because of the continuous operation of the helicopter and short return times. The landing has to be sufficiently large to accommodate a drop zone and stacking area. Logs have to be debarked, tagged, measured and carried away as soon as possible to avoid congestion at the landing. The number of personnel working at the landing is kept to a minimum because it is very dangerous to move around with the helicopter arriving every few minutes to drop logs.
There is a high emphasis on safety for all aspects of the helicopter harvesting operation from the felling of trees through to the landing or drop zone. The helicopter must be properly and continuously maintained to Aviation Regulation Standards. Its estimated maintenance time for every flying hour is four person-hours. The pilots require a high level of concentration for this type of work; therefore, their number of flying hours for any period of time is also limited by Aviation Regulations to avoid pilot fatigue.
No tree fellers can be in the vicinity when the helicopter is picking up logs. This is because the rotor downwash from the helicopter may break some of the tree branches of the surrounding stand and cause injuries or fatalities to persons on the ground. The number of persons working in the landing or drop zone must also be kept to a minimum when the helicopter is dropping logs.
Detailed time studies were carried out by the Forest Department on the Sikorsky S-64F and the MIL 8. The performances are given in Table 2.
No detailed time studies were carried out on the KAMOV Ka-32, which has a similar lifting capacity of 5 000 kg as that of the MIL 8. Its performance is therefore expected to be the same as that of the MIL 8.
The helicopter can extract logs from sites that are inaccessible with difficult terrain as well as from environmentally sensitive areas where the use of ground-based and cable systems is impossible or undesirable.
High machine productivity. The helicopter works during the day and maintenance is done at night when it is not flying.
High production rate. The Sikorsky S-64F can produce at least 17 times more volume than a tractor in an effective working day.
There is no exposed ground surface inside the harvesting block due to the absence of skid trails and cableway corridors.
Fewer roads are required because the economic flying range of the helicopter is 2 km. Normal ground-based harvesting in Sarawak requires a road density of 10 m/ha. However, with a combined helicopter and tractor-harvesting approach, the road density can be reduced to 5 m/ha.
Less utilization of standing timber resources. Because helicopter harvesting is expensive, the number of trees felled and extracted is lower compared to tractor operations because only trees with sound, merchantable timber are selected, minimizing rejected logs at the landing. Studies done by the Forest Department show that only 1.4 to 3.5 trees/ha are extracted compared to 8.7 trees/ha in tractor-harvesting areas.
The volume of remnant and rejected logs left behind in the forest is higher in the helicopter-harvesting area compared to tractor-based harvesting. This is due to the selection of only good, merchantable logs for lifting. The logs have to be bucked properly to optimum length due to the maximum lifting capacity. Studies carried out by the Forest Department show that based on a per tree extracted basis, about 1.8 to 2.3 m3 of unutilized timber are left behind in an area harvested by helicopter compared to 0.08 m3 in an area harvested by tractor.
No local expertise in flying the helicopters (performing long line lifting) and maintenance. Therefore, the operation is dependent on pilots and aircraft engineers from outside Sarawak.
An assessment of the harvesting damage, open space created and stream turbidity in the helicopter- and tractor-harvesting area has been carried out by the Forest Department (Chua, 1993; 1995).
The number of surrounding trees that are damaged or totally removed per tree felled and extracted in the helicopter-harvesting area is between 1.45 to 3.13, whereas in the tractor-harvesting area, it is 5.49. In the helicopter-harvesting area, there is no exposed ground surface due to the absence of skid trails. Skid trails occupy 6.3 percent of the tractor-harvesting area. The open space in the helicopter-harvesting area is created by the canopy opening, when the tree falls, and some site clearing around the felled tree to enable the helicopter pilot to locate the log. It is much smaller compared to ground-based systems. Stream turbidity in the area worked by the helicopter is also much lower under all weather conditions (Table 3). Based on the results, helicopter harvesting can therefore be considered a low impact environmentally friendly harvesting system.
Helicopter harvesting is generally more expensive than tractor harvesting because of high operating costs and higher contract rates for felling crews. A direct cost comparison between helicopter harvesting and the conventional tractor-harvesting operation under similar difficult terrain conditions in the Model Forest Management Area (MFMA) project area in Sarawak indicated that helicopter-harvesting cost was twice the tractor-harvesting cost (ITTO, 2000).
Since 1993 when helicopter harvesting first started, the main challenge facing the timber operators and the helicopter companies has been to find ways to reduce the cost of harvesting. Recognizing that it is a low impact harvesting system, the Forest Department of Sarawak is encouraging its use by allowing all logs extracted by helicopter to be exported. Reduced royalty rates are also applied to timber extracted by helicopter. Unfortunately, logs extracted by helicopter do not fetch better prices compared to logs extracted by tractor and with fluctuating log prices, which are beyond the control of log-producing countries, helicopter harvesting in Sarawak continues to have its ups and downs.
Over the years, timber operators in Sarawak have tested six types of helicopters with different lifting capacities (i.e. Sikorsky S-64E, Sikorsky S-64F, Chinook 234, MIL 8, MIL Mi-26, KAMOV Ka-32). However, only three types are in use today, i.e. Sikorsky S-64F, MIL 8 and KAMOV Ka-32 as the timber operators found them to be more cost-effective. In some timber concessions, a combination of big and small helicopters is used to optimize the lifting of logs of different sizes.
In helicopter harvesting, felling of trees is managed and handled by the timber operator while the helicopter company only comes in to lift logs. Therefore, excellent coordination and understanding between the two parties are vital to reduce downtime and delays and to ensure that logs are fresh when brought out to the landings. Only then will helicopter harvesting be financially viable.
The use of helicopters in timber harvesting definitely has low environmental impacts due to reduced road construction, absence of skid trails, reduced damage to the forest stand and ground surface and less soil erosion and stream sedimentation. Therefore, the intangible benefits derived should be considered and recognized by both timber operators and tropical timber consumers.
Helicopter harvesting in Sarawak is not intended to replace the existing ground-based crawler tractor system completely. Over the last three years, the volume of logs lifted out by helicopters has accounted for only 5 percent of the total log production from the hill forest. The gentle and undulating forest areas will still be worked by tractors incorporating reduced impact logging (RIL) procedures. However, harvesting of the hill mixed dipterocarp forests in Sarawak is progressing towards the interior regions where the terrain is steep and more difficult. The potential or opportunity for helicopter harvesting lies in these areas. In such terrain, tractor harvesting with RIL procedures is less effective (particularly in reducing stream sedimentation) and is presently difficult to implement for the following reasons:
(c) Capacity building of Forest Department staff to carry out supervision of RIL for sustainable forest management has not been completed yet.
Notwithstanding the high cost of operation, the use of helicopters will definitely improve the sustainability of the forest and at the same time preserve its environmental values.
Efforts should be made to convince tropical timber consumers that logs produced by the helicopter-harvesting system (or even by RIL with tractors) should be accorded premium prices in view of the high cost of extraction. Timber operators and helicopter companies should continue to collaborate closely to improve planning and harvesting procedures in order to reduce the cost of extraction. The possibility of testing alternative types of helicopters should also be looked into.
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It was the age of the flower child, Vietnam War protests, and the Race to the Moon. The decade spanning the late '60s and early '70s was one filled with growing tension between students and “the establishment,” students
FarmHouse was not immune to the societal, political, and cultural debates surrounding it. To a lesser degree, the organization was facing similar issues of conflict and debate, albeit on a much different plane.
Whereas the youth of the day were experimenting with their newfound freedoms, FarmHouse chapters and alumni passionately debated possible changes to the cornerstone beliefs of our Fraternity. As the Fraternity grew internationally, issues had to be addressed including whether the Fraternity should allow women to be members, whether co-ed housing was the wave of the future and what the Fraternity's official position on alcohol would be.
Two of the major topics of conversation and debate in the early 1970s were whether women should be allowed to become members of FarmHouse and whether the organization should consider co-ed living in chapter houses.
Much of the debate was sparked by a proposal by the Iowa State Chapter in 1970 to change the bylaws and constitution to allow women to become members. The proposal was defeated but brought up again at the 1972 Conclave.
The debate led the National Executive Board to form a committee to study the concept of co-ed housing further. Ultimately, the committee of undergraduate and alumni leaders concluded that such a program would not be beneficial and was largely opposed
The committee suggested instead that chapters further investigate the formation of sisters groups, chapter sweethearts, etc.
Since its founding, FarmHouse has maintained a tradition of responsible behavior and alcohol-free living. The definition of alcohol-free has been a hot button over the years. For several decades leading up to the 1960s, alcohol-free living facilities were the norm for most men's fraternities. University officials maintained much greater control over students.
As with changes taking place in society at large, the late '60s and early '70s for FarmHouse were times when students questioned status quo and were not afraid to voice their opinions. While FarmHouse had long maintained a tradition of alcohol-free housing in the majority of chapters, no set policy was in place in regards to alcohol. After much debate, discussion and analysis of what local chapter alcohol practices were, the first official FarmHouse alcohol and drug policy was adopted in 1974, which prohibits alcohol and drugs from all FH chapter houses and property.
Among the FarmHouse brothers leading the charge were: Lt. General Earl Hedlund (NE '35), who had flown 170 fighter missions in World War II before becoming Director of the Defense Supply Agency for the US Armed Forces; and Dean Mead (WY '62), who served as a Green Beret for the US in the war.
Much of the world's attention during the first half of this decade was focused on the race to the moon. The United States and the former Soviet Union were in a mad race to see who could land a man on the moon first.
The first FarmHouse man to become an astronaut was Jim Thar (MI '56), who was accepted into the Aerospace School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 1968. Thar had previously completed more than 100 in-country combat missions in Vietnam and 30 out of country. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for service in Vietnam.
The FarmHouse national office moved to St. Joseph, Missouri in 1969, at the same time that Wick Haynes (NC '57) was named to be the second full-time national secretary-treasurer-editor (position later renamed executive director) of FarmHouse Fraternity. Haynes served in this capacity for the Fraternity until the end of 1972.
Following an extensive national search for Haynes' successor, Bob Off (CO '64) was hired to serve as the Fraternity and Foundation's executive director and editor of Pearls & Rubies. He had previously worked at South Dakota State University as assistant director of housing after a stint in the US Army.
After four years of work, the Alberta FarmHouse club chartered as a chapter in 1974, officially making FarmHouse an international organization. Despite a Canadian postal worker strike that prevented many of the alumni members from learning of the time, date, and location in time to attend the event, the chartering ceremony was nonetheless a huge event that signaled new opportunities for FarmHouse.
Besides Alberta, other chapters to charter during this decade included Georgia in 1965 (since inactive), South Dakota State in 1966, and Auburn in 1971.
The birth and rise of the Auburn Chapter was particularly impressive. The group was formed in 1969. One of the savvy moves was a notable column in The Auburn Plainsman student newspaper written by then-colony president Bobby Keen (AU '71), who explained why Auburn needed FarmHouse on campus. He pointed to how fraternities need to return to the principles and values they were founded on.
“In the beginning fraternities had no pledges, because fraternity men were not interested in creating a second-class membership of subservients,” Keen wrote. “They played sports when they felt like it because they wanted to participate athletically as gentlemen—not as competitors striving for another quantity of brass. They sang because they enjoyed each others' company as men and as individuals. They discussed the issues of the day and from these sessions developed some of the great minds of America.”
The chapter would charter in 1971. Less than a year later, the Auburn Chapter was named the outstanding fraternity on campus, Jerry Batts (AU '71) was elected student body president, and Bill Minor (AU '71) was elected ag student council president.
Throughout the 75-year history of FFA, FarmHouse men have helped provide exceptional leadership to the organization. A total of 48 FarmHouse brothers have served as national FFA officers to date (the FFA selects six national FFA officers per year). Ten FarmHouse men would serve as national FFA officers during the decade from 1965-1974, including four national FFA presidents – Howard Williams (NC '65); Greg Bamford (CO '67); Harry Birdwell (OK '69); and Dan Lehmann (IL '70).