Timber companies aid the salmon

I\VER THE years, rhe salmon Vand timber industries haven't always been on the best of terms. However, during the past decade or two, their interests have been srowing closer together and toda/they can boast of one of the closest ties fronr diverse industries.

A prinre example of this is the salmon egg-taking station on Hollow Tree Creek just north of the snrall town of Leggett, Ca., in northern Mendocino County.

In the past few years, the rearing pond situation on Ten Mile River (near Fort Bragg, Ca.) was totally dependent on receiving fish to raise if other states or areas had a

The Merchant Magazine surplus. If everyone had a bad year the rearing pond program would go begging. The need to eliminate this dependency has now been accomplished through the cooperative efforts of the salmon industrv. and four timber conrpanies in Noithern California.

Harwood Products. Masonite. Louisiana-Pacifi c and Georeia Pacific combined their talents ind resources for this latest venture in salnron restoration.

Everyone involved with the timber/lunrber industry is fanriliar with the ternr of sustained yield. When you harvest timber, you make sure that you engage in complete reforestation, replanting and silvicultural procedures so that even more trees will be available over the next 30-40 or 50 years. The salmon eggtaking station is in reality, sustained yield from the sea. But jur what is it all about?

As Bud Harwood of Harwood Products said recently: "The salmon were neglected over the years by the logging communiry. With little or no restraints placed on harvesting practices, the streams were clogged with debris and soil erosion

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played an important part in the lack of suitable salmon spawning beds. However, all of that is changed and as a company, we feel that we should do our part to reinstate as much of the salnron population as we can."

Story at a Glance

Timber companies cooperate with the salmon industry to restock the famous King Salmon in Northern California streams. .. in effect, a sustained yield from the sea, as from the forest. The experimental station has already proved successful in the first three months of operation. The station does exactly what its name implies. takes eggs. But as you might imagine. this isn't quite as easv as it sounds.

It is set up with a Permanent foundation across the creek with the gates (screens) that are removable when not needed. When the salmon start to head up streanl , selected females are gathered in the trap system and forced to one end where they are removed.

Once the females are removed, they are killed and the eggs removed. It should be renrembered that these fish are on their way uP stream to spawn and once that is accomplished, they die a natural death. The egg-taking station doesn't change Mother Nature's ways. it just hurries them a few days.

Once the eggs are taken from the females, they are placed in traYS and then fertilized by several of the nrales that are trapped. Now comes a very delicate time when the eggs will either become fertile or not.

During this stage of the operation. the eggs are transported to the Department of Fish and Came facility in Yountville, Ca., for hatching. Once the eggs are hatched, they will once again be transported to rearing ponds. in this case the Ten Mile pond on the Harwood property just outside Fort

Bragg. The final state of the operation will be to move the 8-10" long young fish back to Hollow Tree Creek so that they can head back to the ocean.

The original investment was only 101 female King Salmon. From this has already been created surplus future eggs that can be tiiken to further enhance salmon runs in other Northern California streams.

Nearly everyone will benefit from this program. From the modest $20.000 initial cost. the entire North Coast area will benefit. Commercial fishing will receive a boost just by the nunrber of fish available. As salmon fishing is one of the hardest of all types of comnrercial fishing (all fish must be caught with hook rrnd line ) any bonus for this industry will benefit the entire coast's economy.

As far as the sport fishing is concerned, anyone who has ever had a 45 lb. King Salnron on the end of the line will attest to the pure enjoynrent of the catch and anyone who has every enjoyed smoked salmon (hasn't everyone ?) will need no further incentive to see the benefits of this progranr.

Historic Redwood Mill Closed

February l, 1980 marked the last day of operations for LouisianaPacific Corporation's old growth redwood sawmill (Plant I ) in Samoa, Ca. The plant, built in 1963 by Georgia-Pacific Corp., was preceded by two other redwood sawmills in Samoa.

The first sawmill on the Samoa Peninsula was built by Vance Lumber Co. in 1894. It had rhe capability of producing 60-70 thousand board feet of lumber a day and employed about 200 men. At the time, the company figured they had enough timber to last 20 years.

After purchasing the Vance Lumber Co. in 1900, the famous Hammond Lumber Co. constructed a new sawmill, replacing the original Vance mill. By 1917 the Hammond Samoa complex expanded to include the sawmill, planing mill, a door and sash factory, dry kilns, a moulding plant, a sorter shed, warehouses and a power house.

In addition, it had docks, a rail line and even ship building during World War I. About 1100 men were employed at the time, working six days a week for about $37 a month. Women were first hired to work in the sawmill in 1942 during World War II. After the war they were replaced by male workers and were not considered again for employment until the early 1960s.

By 1948 the sawmill, operating under maximum production, produced about 54 million board feet a year. Timber supply was expected to last about 50 years.

Plant I was built in 1963 by G-P to replace the old Hammond mill (G-P bought Hammond in 1956). Production was expected to last about 40 years, depending on the old growth supply. G-P lost about 3400 acres of its timber lands due to the Redwood National Park in 1968. In 1978, park expansion took another 27.000 acres of I--P's timber land (L-P spun off from G-P in late 1972). Those lands grew the majority of the company's old growth timber.

With about l5 years cut from the planning time for conversion to second growth operations, L-P had to make immediate changes in its operations. In order to maintain sustained yield on company owned timber lands, L-P had to substantially reduce the annual cut. Because of this, the Samoa plywood mill was closed in November of 1978; the Samoa studmill (reliant on the "peeler cores" produced at the plywood mill) closed in July of 1979 and Plant I (the redwood sawmill in Samoa) Februarv 1r 980.

A new small log mill has iaken the place of Plant 1. The new mill, newest and most advanced in the area, handles second growth redwood logs from 5" to 48" in diameter and is capable of producing about 90 million board feet a year. (Plant I produced about 90 million board feet in 1979.)

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Plant I closure eliminated about 164 jobs. Eighty-six of those employees moved to the small log mill, 34 are being relocated throughout the complex and the remainder will be laid off. When production increases in the new small log mill, about 140 jobs are expected to be available.

L-P's second growth timber management (sustained yield-rotation harvesting) is now expected to provide raw materials in perpetuity.

Personals

(Continued from page 61)

Steve Ryan, Pacific Wood Preserving of Bakersfield, Bakersfield, Ca., is back from a High Sierra skiing trip. (iary Davis is now gen. n1gr. at Kellogg Lumber Co., Denver. Co.

Gage McKinney, MacBeath Hardwood, Montebello, Ca.. was interviewed March 18, on hardwood furniture, by KPWR, a Bakersfield, Ca., tv station.

Ted Gilbert, Product Sales, Orange, Ca.t Jerry DeCou, DeCou Lumber, Atascadero, Ca.; and Ray Louvier, Erbe Wood Products. Costa Mesa. Ca., are back from a Baja Mexico birdshoot.

Cliff Smoot, Masonite lumber div., Calpella, Ca., was recently in Chicago on co. biz.

Bill Steckel is now a sales rep for Simpson Timber Co., Seattle, Wa.

James L. Leary is the new gen. sales nrgr., Holophane Div., Johns-Manville Sales Corp., Denver, Co.

William N. Dennison is the new executive v.p. of the Western Timber Assn. with the retirement of (ieorge A. Craig. Richard (J. Reid is v.p., information and environment; John T. Keane, v.p., timber supply; and Wesley R. Higbie, staff attorney.

Jim Borland is salesnran of the year and Glenn Parker, nrost inrproved salesman at Virginia Hardwood Co., Monrovia, Ca., according to Dave Ferrari, pres.

Cliff Helmberger, Richard William, and Larry Damon are new to trading at Hearin Forest Industries. Portland. Or.

Tom (iilstrap is the new sales nrgr. at John C. Taylor Lumber Sales, Beaverton, Or. Don Pleier is now at the treating div.

William Swindells, Jr. is the new pres. and c.o.o. at Willamette Industries, Portland, Or. Neil Duffie is vice chairman. (iene Knudson plans to retire in'81.

Michael D. Garrett is the new national sales mgr. for Wood Specialty Products, Mountlake Terrace, Wa., according to Winslow Wright, pres.