from John
What could be a better indicator of a recovering economy? Timber harvesting.
We are seeing this on Barber Road in Woodstock and on Storrs Road in Tolland. The two graphs at the bottom are showing that both white pine and fuel wood are coming back. You can get as much as $15 a cord for fuel wood. We recommend Don Dubois of Brooklyn as the Forester (Masters Degree from Yale in Forest Management) who marks the trees and manages the harvest. He works with John Trowbridge, a local logger. This is a clean, professional operation that improves the forest by removal of older and diseased trees.
The pictures below were taken on Barber Road yesterday at dusk. The first picture is white pine harvested as saw timber for construction lumber.
The thinner logs are hard wood being harvested for fuel wood in the two pictures below.
Graphs are from http://www.canr.uconn.edu/ces/forest/charts_east.html
You don’t really want your forester working too closely with one logger, or worse, for the logger. The landowner is a lot better off if the loggers bid competitively.
$60/MBF isnt a lot of money.
The prices have gone up since then. Don managed the bidding that took place at the town hall. There were four bidders. I chose the logger based on approach to logging first and then price second, and several other factors. So technically I chose Trowbridge. Trowbridge was also willing to co-ordinate with acquaintance, John White, who farms the property. Another important feature is the contract between the forester and the seller, and the logger and the seller. I put together a strong contract with the help of my lawyer (it wasn’t cheap). I would be willing to show the contract to other Woodstockians who are interested in logging.
I don’t see this as a sign the “economy is coming back.” Where’s the wood going, overseas?
I think the economy is worse now than it was a year ago and will get worse before it gets better.
Media is always a year behind. My phone has been ringing off the hook for about 4-5 months now. 2010 is already a better year than the last three.
Randy, you hiring? I know a lots of people that are looking for work.