OCONTO COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Many crews in the logging industry are hard at work, trying to make up for lost time.
Recent rain-free days are providing a break from soggy conditions that bogged down many operations in parts of the Northwoods.
Deep in the woods of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Matt Huempfner says four-wheel drive is the only way to go.
“The worst is yet to come I think.”
Huempfner is a forester with Wild Rivers Forestry. He says treads are needed so a 50,000-pound tractor called a forwarder can move around a job site near Lakewood.
But he says getting the timber out of the woods is a different story.
“The trucks come in weighing about 98,000 pounds on their way out. So, it’s really it’s pretty hard for them to get in and out of jobs where if you have any type of moisture in the ground,” said Huempfner.
Huemphfner says logs are stacked up wherever there is room.
“The longer our product, our wood sits in a pile, the longer it’s drying out. And we get paid by the weight, so it really affects our bottom dollar that way,” he said.
And it’s more than just Northeast Wisconsin. Timber experts say the soggy conditions stretch across much of the Northwoods, affecting the bottom line of many logging operations in the region.
“I’ve actually checked with a few and I’m hearing 25-30 percent, they’re down in their gross income from a year ago even,” said Henry Schienebeck, Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association Executive Director.
Schienebeck says some loggers are covering their costs by taking wood now, that was earmarked for harvest next year.
“So next spring comes. Unless there’s more timber that’s put up for sale on drier ground, they’re going to be in a world of hurt then,” he said.
Back on another site in Oconto County, The Wild Rivers crew was on the move. For the first time in about two months, a truck full of timber was headed to the mill.
“We’ll keep whittling away at it. Whenever we get a couple days of dry weather together, we’ll try to haul some wood out,” said Huempfner.
Logging experts say they will haul the timber as long as the weather cooperates.
They say it typically takes three or four days of dry conditions before the trucks can operate on the logging roads.
