Ironically, the above-water portion of trees often must be discarded due to degradation by sunlight and microorganisms. And although sugars have leached from the Lake Superior logs, this effectively seasons the wood, making it highly desirable for use in musical instruments. Some underwater logs were sunk or otherwise lost during log drives on rivers, but the majority came from forests submerged during the building of dams. The number of large dams—those more than 15 meters high—has increased nearly sevenfold since , reported the World Resources Institute in World Resources — And while dam building has decreased sharply in developed countries due to environmental considerations and a lack of good sites, it does continue elsewhere.
Godsall estimates that about 35, square kilometers of forest worldwide have already been submerged by dams. In British Columbia alone, he says, about 20 million trees lay underwater.
Although all that submerged timber seems like a waste, Godsall says the schedule and economics of dam building are to blame—the trees are considered expendable, and the costs of removing them are too high. Could you cut it economically? Cost—benefit analyses done time and time again, [in Canada], in the States, in Russia, in Brazil, or Southeast Asia focus on [generation of] electricity, not logs, and the result is flooded forests.
The Sawfish is 6 feet high, nearly 12 feet long, and 6 feet wide; it weighs 7, pounds. The craft is tethered to a cable carrying electric power, video feeds, and control circuits. Staying off the bottom reduces the amount of silt that gets suspended in the water, Godsall says.
The operator works in a control booth on a barge, directing the robot to the base of a standing tree. A hydraulically powered grapple driven by vegetable oil, not hydraulic fluid grabs the tree, and the sub screws a large air bladder to the trunk and inflates it.
After the Sawfish saws the trunk with its horsepower electric chain saw, the bladder lifts the tree to the surface. In three hours, the Sawfish can cut 37 trees.
The logs are then sent to a conventional lumber mill for processing. Although the drowned trees contain more moisture than living trees, the lumber can be air- or kiln-dried with little trouble, according to Triton. Triton is progressing toward certification under the Rediscovered Wood underwater salvage standards established by SmartWood, a nonprofit environmental program of the Rainforest Alliance that began assessing the environmental, social, and economic impact of forestry operations in SmartWood assessors evaluate the negative and positive effects of an operation on the environment: what types of fluids and chemicals are used in the machine in case there is a hose break , whether the operation creates a disturbance at the lake bottom, whether sediment is being disturbed, whether there is shoreline erosion where the logs are being removed, and whether the waterway is improving or worsening because of the operation.
Ontario hopes to develop the industry. The province has rules governing when and where the logs may be taken, but, matching the government's open-for-business tone, a senior official at the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has suggested the rules are too stringent and relaxing them would stimulate the new industry.
On the contrary, this is exactly the wrong moment to weaken what environmental protection is in place and to rapidly expand the industry. Larger operators may be easier to police, but the Ontario government's own bureaucrats have noted there is a big difference between removing a few logs and wholesale harvesting.
As yet we can only guess at what the impact might be. Both Ontario's enthusiasm and the loggers' blithe assurances are simplistic. All resource extraction involves some environmental damage. The question is whether the damage the underwater logging will cause is worth the rewards of exploiting a finite resource to make luxury goods while adding a few dollars to provincial coffers.
Buyer: "My! That's some pretty lumber. How much is it? I think I'll shop around". Seller: "OK. Buyer: "Who else is sawing it? I'm the only one that has any.
They are all customers. I have no constructive input, other than to say in these economic times it will be tough to find a home for such a high end product.
There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.
You might want to contact the fella from Axeman II. He might have some insight. Built my own band mill with the help of Forestry Forum. There's a co in either Mass. I saw it somewhere I'll see if I can find it again and give you the site Chico.
Fishfarm might be onto something, because that guy comes across as a complete idiot, but seems to have alot of equipment. I think Tom is is also onto something though, that guy from axman uses an Alaskan mill to process his own stuff and sells directly to the customer. HIgh end fireplace mantels WHat I would do before I got too far along is check on the laws in your area.
I heard of a guy in MIchigan pulling logs from Lake superior who went to jail because he didn't have the right permits. I have a buddy with a crane who owns frontage on a deep pond that was supposedly used as a log dump after the Hurricane of 38 and he has a brother in law who scuba dives, but I cant get them to look into it.
I am already looking into the permits. I have some friends in the state house that can help me get started on the permit process. I was wrong it was an old story I was reading a couple of months ago It was a guy from MInn and they got the logs out of lake Michigan They had a law passed to allow it apparently about the time they were doing it Chico. There is a guy here in maine who does this. Arkansas Gender: eat mo' ribs Wouldn't talk to the guy from Axemen II The Washington dept.
Scott "There is much that I need to do, even more that I want to do, and even less that I can do. Quote from: Maineloggerkid on March 30, , PM. Just call me the midget doctor. Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life. Ezekiel Hey guys, I thought I would just add real quickly, hoping someone has not already offered this.
Hardwood logs that were not able to go downriver were chained to buoyant softwoods and rafted to mills for processing. Photograph showing seven men standing on logs in a river during a log drive. Photo credit.
Many of the logs that were floated downriver became waterlogged, or were caught in a log jam and ultimately sank to the bottom of the stream.
Once the logs sank they were preserved in the river bottoms. The minerals in the water where the logs rested played an important part in the color of the finished lumber. Many factors can harm the quality of the logs; oxygen, direct sunlight and pests.
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