Public Servitude

Yes, I AM a public servant and I anticipate that I may have to go to Mississippi to help deal with the hurricane damage. That would probably come next spring when the authorities figure out how much of the National Forests down there are impacted by blowndown trees. Yep, and there'll be plenty of snakes as we crawl over and measure the valuable timber that is piled up everywhere. I have worked in Arkansas, Oklahoma and South Carolina in their forests and I had to dredge up my 25 year old Dendrology knowledge, somehow lurking in my brain after all these years. Can you say "Quercus pagoda"?? (Cherrybark oak) Sure ya can.

Yesterday, I exposed my co-worker to the world of profesional timber fallers. (BTW, a faller is a feller with his tree on the ground). We're supposed to monitor these guys as they cut down HUGE trees within the burned area of our timber salvage project. It's quite dangerous and my experience tells me where I should stand to watch and whre I shouldn't stand. The skill of these guys is amazing, how they can put giant trees right where they want them to go (and right where I want them to go, with a minimum of breakage on steep and uneven slopes). My co-worker was very afraid and watched from even a further distance away. We watched one poor guy who hung a tree up in another standing tree, trying to fall other trees into the hangup, to finally get it on the ground.

The above picture was taken in Arkansas. I've got my snake chaps, cruisers vest, hardhat and snake stick. If I remember correctly, that day was filled with briars.....lots of briars.....lol