Forest Savers LLC

 

1. Name - Forest Savers LLC

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A case study from private land in the northern hardwood forests of the Northeast emphasizes the driving force of the economy in forest management decisions. A private consulting forester was initially contracted to thin in a wildland-urban interface (WUI), but because of the economic downturn of early 2008 the job was postponed until better times.

As with many of the contractor's jobs, the landowners planned to pay to have overcrowded, dying, and hazard trees removed to improve the attractiveness and health of the woodland near their home. All biomass was to be trucked out as round wood, with salvage value of the biomass credited back to the landowners.

The biomass removal was to occur in a common Eastern stand type: a mix of white pine and hemlock in the stem exclusion stage. The job included cutting about 700 trees on approximately 3 acres and removing all material longer than 8 feet and larger than 5 inches in diameter. The contractor planned to use a tractor fitted with a Farmi winch and short log forks on the tractor's loader. The contractor would have felled and limbed in the woods with chainsaws then skidded in lengths 8 to 21 feet up to the driveway and then down the driveway to a small landing area. The 31 horsepower tractor and winch could handle up to four chokers and would skid and average of about one-quarter cord (1,200 to 1,500 pounds) per hitch on this job. If there were a longer skid or if the driveway was not frozen, the contractor planned to use the bi-directional log hauler behind the tractor and winch to boost the volume per trip to 1 to 1.5 cords (4800 to 9000 pounds) and get the wood up on wheels so it would not drag.

The contractor planned to deliver the biomass to Hemphill Power and Light in West Springfield, New Hampshire, at a price of $18 per ton as round wood in 8 to 21 foot lengths. Hemphill Power and Light, which has a 16 MW capacity, chips the round wood and burns the chips to generate electricity. Trucking one way is about 40 miles (an hour travel time). The truck used would have been a straight tri-axle with a loader behind the cab. Full loads would have weighed 15 to 16 tons each. Charge for trucking would have been approximately $270 per trip, so ability to sell the biomass would have balanced the trucking costs.

The contractor, Forest Savers LLC, would have used a unique brush mulcher to shred all the smaller underbrush, tops, and slash. The system is designed to efficiently and safely cut and shred brush and small trees in the wildland-urban interface for woodland beautification and wildfire hazard reduction. A video of the brush mulching system is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JjhSLMxj1k . 

Links

• Forest Savers LLC