Avian influenza, rabies, mad cow disease, and even chronic wasting disease are animal diseases that make the headlines because of the human-health link and the ease in which they spread among animals, regions, and even countries. Lesser known are the nongame wildlife diseases. Although an alert for global amphibian declines began almost 30 years ago, […]
Counting carbon: Calculating how headwater streams contribute to the carbon cycle
U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station Science Findings December 2018 Pacific Northwest forests play a significant role in the global carbon cycle. Because they sequester atmospheric carbon, they are considered long-term carbon sinks when one is calculating the carbon budget for the region. Yet a forested landscape is more than trees; numerous headwater streams […]
It’s the Employees
TimberWest Sept/October 2018 Step onto a Holbrook operation and you’ll see Jim “Big Jim” Filmore who started with the company as a chaser and is the go-to guy on tough logging sites. Then there’s Jon Gordon who began working in the log yards but is now operating log shovels, and Dale “Big Dale” […]
Finishing a Career with a ScorpionKing
TimberWest May/June 2018 Although Ken Wilson, owner of Ken’s Kutting, is approaching a significant milestone in his logging career — next year will mark 45 years spent out in the woods — he isn’t slowing down. Instead, he is prioritizing what’s important in life. You won’t find Ken or Danny Wilson, his cousin […]
The Recovery of Soil Fungi Following a Fire
U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station Science Findings June 2018 If all the fungi within a half gram of forest soil were lined up, they would form a line that’s half a mile long. That same half gram of soil includes bacteria that number in the hundreds of thousands. These fungi and […]
Seattle’s New $28M Locomotive Facility Picks Up Steam
Construction Equipment Guide May 8, 2018 With the piling work completed for the new Amtrak locomotive service facility, crews are now pouring its concrete foundation and installing the underground mechanical, electrical and utilities. Although the project is only 38 percent complete, construction is ahead of schedule. “We’re scheduled to turn over the building to Amtrak […]
Finding Success in the Residuals Market
TimberWest March/April 2018 Three times a day, a residual hauler from Sierra Pacific, Interstate Wood Products, or Veneer Chip Transport visits Gem Shavings’ new Shelton facility to deliver an average of 175 cubic yards of wood shavings. Usually a couple days later, these wood shavings leave Gem Shavings either as bales or in bulk, […]
River food webs: Incorporating nature’s invisible fabric into river management
U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station Science Findings April 2018 Increasing the population of spring Chinook salmon and summer steelhead in Washington state’s Methow River is a goal of the Upper Columbia Spring Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Recovery Plan. Spring Chinook salmon and summer steelhead are listed as endangered and threatened, respectively, under […]
MassDOT’s $317M Whittier Bridge/I-95 Improvement Project in Final Phase
Construction Equipment Guide March 15, 2018 The five-year Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Whittier Bridge/I-95 Improvement project is now in its final six months. With the construction of the new Whittier Bridge complete, crews are removing the old bridge’s foundations from the Merrimack River and paving the new lanes on I-95 within the project corridor. […]
Taking a Chance on Industry Changes
TimberWest January/February 2018 When fifth-generation logger Stephen Reidhead was inspired by his wife Trish to start Tri-Star Logging in 1986, he couldn’t have foreseen that industry changes in the 1990s would force him to exchange logging in the hills surrounding the city of Snowflake for grinding up the citrus orchards to make way for Phoenix […]
Writings by Andrea Watts 