9/25/08

Tree thinning keeps forests healthy

by Beckye Randall

The Tulalip Reservation encompasses 22,000 acres, with approximately 8,000 acres of undeveloped natural forest land at its core. To keep the forests healthy, preserving cultural and financial resources for future generations, the Tulalip Forest Enterprise (TFE) is working with a local company, TimberTec, to thin growth in a 132-acre area deep in the heart of the tribal lands.

Jason Gobin (left) and Terry Grinaker talk about the Tulalip Tribes' thinning operation.

Around the turn of the 20th century, most of the old-growth timber was logged from the reservation. Tribal members were expected to take up farming, so huge areas of the reservation were cleared of native Douglas fir and cedar trees. Without forestry management until the late 1970s, the tribal lands were repopulated with fast-growing brush, alder and cottonwood.

In 1977 tribal leaders created a forestry management plan and began an aggressive effort to restore their natural forests.

“I planted trees and hauled logs in those days,” recalled Glen Gobin, now a member of the Tulalip Board of Directors and one of the overseers of the TFE program. “In the early 1980s, the forestry department was the Tribes’ largest employer. We had two 20-man planting crews at work.”

1980 was the year forester Terry Grinaker came to work for the Tribes, and he recently retired after 28 years of service.

“Forestry is an evolving science,” Grinaker explained during a recent tour of the thinning operations. “We learn as we go along, always keeping in mind the environmental, cultural and economic impact of our decisions.”

“Thinning is an important part of good forestry management,” he continued. “It allows undergrowth to survive, things like grasses, clover and ferns, which provide food for wildlife. And since the remaining trees don’t have to fight for sunlight, they grow much faster and stronger.”

With Grinaker’s retirement, the FTE is staffed by only two full-time employees, Jason Gobin and Russell Moses. Both men have worked for the department for 13 years under Grinaker’s mentorship.

Pre-commercial thinning is one part of the process in a cycle of forestry management, according to Jason Gobin. “The goal is to be able to harvest mature trees every 55 years,” he explained. “It’s not really about revenue. It’s about enhancing our culture and preserving the forest for the future.”

This year’s thinning operation will only net the Tribes about $70,000, according to Glen Gobin. Since most of the trees being removed now are relatively small, they’re most suitable only for chipping or pulp mills. A small amount will be sent to sawmills for lumber.

“The eventual plan is to harvest 80 acres a year,” said the elder Gobin, “with target revenue of about $3 million each year in a sustained yield.”

A visit to the work site, filled with 28-year-old trees, showcased the advances that have been made in the logging industry. With surgical precision, a two-man team, Gary Burt running the processor and Greg Dollarhyde driving the forwarder, made quick work of a truckload of trees while we watched.

The processor, with its caterpillar-like treads and 180-degree automated work deck, clamps onto the base of a tree and cuts through it in seconds. The tree is guided to the floor of the forest, then it is fed through the computerized processer arm, its limbs stripped, and its length measured to exactly 16 feet. The first section is cut off, then the processer works its way up the rest of the tree trunk, stripping and cutting every 16 feet. The whole process takes roughly a minute.

The forwarder follows along, its huge claw clamping onto several logs and loading them onto the flatbed. The driver sorts as he goes, eyeballing the trees’ diameter to determine if they should be included with the sawmill load or the one bound for the pulp mill.

The thinning work on this 132-acre plot is expected to take four or five months. After the timber is harvested, tribal members are welcome to visit the area to gather firewood, bark and other natural materials.

Last year an area that overlooks Port Susan Bay was thinned, and today it is a healthy forest with ground cover that feeds a herd of deer and other wildlife. Good forestry practices, including thinning operations, reduce the risk of wildfires and extensive wind damage to stands of trees, Grinaker explained.

The forestry department takes core samples from representative trees, and Grinaker said growth rings verify that trees grow much faster after a thinning operation. “Growth rings before thinning may only be 1/72 of an inch,” he said, “and in the years after we’ll find one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch of growth.”

Michelle Myles, a Lushootseed language expert with the Tulalip Tribes, demonstrated the many uses for natural materials such as cedar bark, grasses and cattails, and the medicinal items found in forest settings. “It’s important to sustain our forests,” she said, “because the forests sustain us.”

Thanks to Terry Grinaker’s legacy of responsible forest management, Tulalip forest lands should sustain many generations to come.

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