Lemhi Pass Timber Sale

By Wendy Dumke, Administrative Support Assistant, Dillon Field Office

The great work accomplished by the Dillon Field Office gets noticed far and wide, especially when it is as visually striking as a timber sale. For a lucky member of the support staff, a first-hand glimpse of what goes on in the field provided serious insight and understanding.

The Lemhi Pass Timber Sale in the southwest corner of Montana was rocking and rolling on March 6 when Forester Emily Guiberson brought Administrative Support Assistant Wendy Dumke and local landowner Ed Mooney to the six million board foot sale.

At every turn, the forester explained the processes in place, carefully including safety aspects and the different pieces of equipment and their importance in the sale. The oooohs and aaaahs were audible at each stop.

“Juice,” a feller buncher operator so nick-named for his quick and precise cutting and stacking, gingerly cut lodgepole from around the Douglas fir that were to be left standing. Skidders carefully hauled large bundles of felled lodgepole to landings where delimbers were lopping off gnarly ends, cutting lengths and sorting saw logs from firewood and rails with precision. Loaders made quick work of pulling “pup” trailers off the racks of waiting semi-trucks, and loaded them with harvested and processed saw logs headed for the mill 143 miles north.

Emily Guiberson clearly has a rapport with each of the sale crew. During stops at each of the landings, crewmembers chatted for a few minutes, updating Emily on what they had seen in their prescribed area. The time taken to catch up clearly means a lot to the crew, as they want to perform the best they can to make sure that both the lumber company and the BLM are satisfied with the results on the ground.

It is hard to believe that just a few short months ago, the bids were opened and the contract awarded. Approximately one third of the sale is already cut. Twenty crew members from Sun Mountain Lumber started work during the furlough, cutting and processing the timber so that twenty log truck drivers could deliver saw logs to the mill in Deer Lodge, firewood to Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, and poles to several post and pole outfits and local ranches.

Even with the furlough, the important work going on with the BLM helps provide the local economy a bit of stimulation. Operations have ceased temporarily to allow roads to thaw and dry out, but you can rest assured that once things do dry out, Emily and Sun Mountain will be back at it again with force.

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