Thinning of forest to net 200 loads of timber
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By JEFFREY HAGE jeff.hage@lee.net
Saturday, May 5, 2007 10:50 PM CDT
With the crack of an axe Eldred Peterson left a cut mark in the trunk of a tree in a thinned out area of pine growth in his back yard at 739 Summit Ave. Another swing, and the small tree fell down.
Peterson was thinning out the tree growth in his back yard Thursday afternoon. Just three days earlier he heard Jon Bohaty detail how his Bohaty Logging would spend the next six months thinning out an adjacent Chippewa Springs pine forest located north of Summit Avenue.
Next door to east of Peterson lives Chuck Selchert. Their yards are separated by an expansive green lawn owned by the city of Chippewa Falls that in actuality is an unopened section of Jeffers Street.
For nearly 12 years Selchert has treated the green space as his own. He has watered and manicured the lawn with a dedication that has left Peterson has respected for years.
But life is about to change for the Peterson and Selchert families. What is normally a sleepy little street is about to come alive at 7 a.m. each morning with the engine of a logging truck and the rip-roaring sounds of chainsaws.
That’s because Bohaty’s crew is going to spend the summer months — and fall months, too — select-cutting the Premium Water’s forest land on the behind Northridge Center. The forest growth on the city’s Henry H. Adams Memorial Park will also be thinned.
To get the work done, Bohaty Logging will use the grass-covered
Jeffers Street right-of-way for its access point into the forest. In addition to the heavy-duty machinery used to clear the forest, semi-loads of timber will make their way over the path between the Peterson and Selchert residences.
“Most of the wood is coming off the east end of the property,” Jon Bohaty said. “Going in the Jeffers Street right-of-way is the best way in and the cheapest way in.”
Bohaty said he will be in the forest maybe until November starting at 7 a.m. each day and working until 6 p.m. The company can work later with written permission from the city.
“I estimate we’ll take about 200 truckloads out over the summer,” Bohaty said. He also estimates that a company he contracts with will take four semis full of utility-pole grade wood from the property.
“When we get it thinned out it will be healthier and safer from a fire protection standpoint,” Bohaty said.
Right now the forest is “pocket-stressed”, he said, an affliction caused by overcrowding. When trees overcrowd the trees dry out and attract a multitude of insects. Eventually the trees will die.
Peterson and Selchert have concerns about heavy dust loads affecting their properties. They also are concerned about restoration efforts along the Jeffers Street right-of-way.
Bohaty says the neighborhood will not be inconvenienced. The city’s board of public works did it’s best to ensure it.
In addition to setting operating hours, Bohaty Logging will be required to:
n Set any stagging areas 200 feet away from residences.
n An access gate will be secured at all times.
n Dust will be required to be minimized.
n Wood will be hauled along Jeffers Street to Park Avenue and then to Highways 178 and Highway 29.
n The site entrance will be constructed with 2-inch washed stone to keep dirt from collecting on city streets.
Bohaty will also be required to restore the unopened section of Jeffers Street.
“We’re a small crew and we got this job because we are conscientious in the sense that a good job gets done,” Bohaty said.
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