Biological Woodsmen's Week 2013

[Carl Russell]

I just made flight reservations to fly in for Friday and Saturday…. Below is Jason’s press release. Report to follow.

Healing Harvest Forest Foundation
8014 Bear Ridge Rd. SE
Copper Hill, Va. 24079
540-651-6355 O
540-798-1828 C

Biological Woodsmen’s Week 2013

19th through 23rd of November At the Floyd Eco-Village
718 Franklin Pike
Floyd, Va. 24091

During the week we will be practicing Restorative Forestry in the forest on the south side of the Eco Village grounds. This site is an example of restoring a previous Christmas tree plantation back to a mixed species forest consisting of naturally regenerated native species of trees, primarily tulip poplar.

We are developing other sites nearby in the community to practice our normal Restorative Forestry through “worst first” single tree selection, professional directional felling and modern animal powered extraction. Maps and directions will be provided to visitor upon arrival at the Eco Village.

On Friday the 22nd we will have special guest Wendell Berry with us. At 4:30 – 5:30 pm he will be in the Eco Village hall for a book signing. At 7:00 – 9:00 pm Wendell Berry will speak at the Floyd County High School auditorium and then participate in a panel discussion with several national experts on the issues of Forestry and Farming in the United States. We will accept questions on note cards and the discussion will be moderated by English Asst. Professor at Penn State and Floyd County native Ethan Mannon. There will be advanced tickets available through the HHFF web site and address above for $10.00. $15.00 at the door.

On Saturday the 23rd we will have a Woodsmen’s Play Day at the Eco Village grounds near the intersection with Sam’s Road on the east side of the Eco Village. This day will feature a timber felling contest, an horse logging obstacle course and a horse pulling contest. Tours of the harvesting sites will be open for visitors that couldn’t make it during the work week will be available. Activities start at 10:00 am.

[Brad Johnson]

Carl-
Any update on NE BWW or standards for getting the “Biological Woodman” certification up here? Thanks!
-Brad

[Carl Russell]

Brad, there will be an article in the DAPNet NL. I hope to organize a summit Spring 2014 to get most us in one place to make some major progress, then in Fall 2014 we want to hold NE BWW, hopefully in cooperation with DAPNet.

It still seems like there is a lot of uncertainty among many about how we all will benefit from Draftwood, but getting on the same page about Biological Woodsmens practices will be an important first step. Draftwood is complicated to market in the best scenario, but it is nothing without authentic restorative forestry practices.

It also seems to me that our first market will be landowners who want the services of Biological Woodsmen because of the financial and ecological benefit that result from our work. We cannot be beholden on a potential premium return from the sale of source differentiated lumber for us to adopt restorative forestry practices. If we implement these practices as a standard of our operations, not just as a function of the preferences of landowners or their managing foresters, then our fee structures need to represent the level workmanship that will support this.

So, in the next few months I will be finding a location and convening a NE Draftwood(?) Summit somewhere in Central New England….

Carl
Carl

[Donn Hewes]

Hi Carl, I plan to be down Fri and Sat as well, so I will see you there, Donn

[dominiquer60]

So how did it go? I see a lot of good pictures on face book and talk of Wendell Berry, but not much about what is actually done at one of these events, besides logger yoga 🙂
Do Tell

[Carl Russell]

I will have a report…. I am swamped with other work, and have not had time to put into a clear review and forecast…..

I will say that it was a “heady” time…. up till 12am talking non-stop with thoughtful people about important issues, so I came home trying to set that aside for a bit because my brain was cramping.

I will share soon…. 😕

[Donn Hewes]

It is a great feeling though, ain’t it! It was a great two days and way to short. I know Carl and I both came home with lots of ideas and enthusiasm (something we weren’t really lacking before) for the possibilities up in our neck of the woods. One of the things that I have picked up through visiting with Jason and the rest of the gang, as well as Carl and my friends up in the north woods is that this isn’t just about using horses or mules, or oxen; it is much bigger than that. Sure, those animals in the woods are important, maybe even central, but the goal is restorative forestry.

I like to go on these trips because I learn so much. About trees, felling, growing, identifying, selecting which stay, then looking for which go. Looking at the surroundings, the potential jobs, and impact we can have on our environment. It has made me a better farmer, as I have come home and looked more closely at my own land. Keep an eye peeled as we head into 2014 because the gears are turning.

Not to mention watching Farmer Brown mix it up with Ronnie Tucker. I just know there is an episode of “america’s funniest videos” in there some where. Over the years I have been incredibly lucky to stand and watch many great teamster’s. I have come to believe that they are more similar than different. Horse and mules respond to people with a certain tone in their voice and demeanor. That is what makes these get togethers so fun for me; watch all these folks of different cultures, ages, and backgrounds debate and haggle over every little thing, and then just listen to how they work with their animals. Their differences fad away. Donn

[Carl Russell]

Thanks Donn for getting a reply in here. I am still swamped with other forestry work, so I haven’t really put together any substantial thoughts yet…. at least on paper.

However, here are a few links about the event;

“We are everyday folks that know that animal power is a proven technique that has many advantages for small scale farmers and loggers. This is not the easy way to do things. This is labor intensive, “hand crafted” natural resource management. This is not solely about production but about protection and improvement of our largest natural resource condition in this region – the forests.” Jason Rutledge

http://www.ridgewindsuffolks.com/?fb_action_ids=10202378682733577&fb_action_types=weeblyapp%3Ashare&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map={%2210202378682733577%22%3A567262696624733}&action_type_map={%2210202378682733577%22%3A%22weeblyapp%3Ashare%22}&action_ref_map=[]

http://www.looseleafnotes.com/2013/12/woodsmen-week-features-wendell-berry/

[Carl Russell]

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[Carl Russell]

’bout all the time I have this morning…

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[Carl Russell]

[video]http://youtu.be/7NjE7as40hw[/video]

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