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Natural Resources / Division of Forestry & Fire Protection

BOF Field Photos - August 2018

Brad Cox, Logging & Milling Associates in Dry Creek, Alaska, shows their log siding to Board of Forestry members.
Brad Cox, Logging & Milling Associates, describes the process of milling house logs that he sells as log home kits.
Logging & Milling Associates’ workshop where the siding, house logs, and tongue and groove boards go through final milling.
The Board getting an introduction to Logging & Milling Associates’ products: tongue and groove, log siding, and house logs.
Logging & Milling Associates’ sort yard in Dry Creek, Alaska.
Some of Logging & Milling Associates’ log cants and dimensional lumber before it is kiln-dried and milled into final product.
Logging & Milling Associates’ shaper that mills house logs for their kits.
Brad Cox, Logging & Milling Associates, shows Chris Maisch, Alaska State Forester, wood pellets that are made with sawdust created during milling operations.
Brad Cox, Logging & Milling Associates, explains why white spruce’s higher lignin content makes better pellets than birch.
Logging & Milling Associate’s furnace is fired by sawdust, a by-product of the milling operation, and heats several buildings in the Dry Creek community.
Group photo in front of Moon Lake
Derek Nellis, DOF Tok Area Forester, explains how winter roads are built across lakes and rivers to access timber.
Derek Nellis, DOF Tok Area Forester, and Peter Talus, DOF Fire Management Officer, explain some of the challenges with building winter roads across Moon Lake to access firewood harvest areas beyond it.
Group photo in front of Division of Forestry’s Tok Helipad during the Board’s tour of Tok’s forest and fire management facilities.
Roller-chopping equipment stored at the Tok Area Office and shared by DOF, ADFG and the Alaska Moose Federation to create moose browse.
Will Putman, Tanana Chiefs Conference Forester, describes some of the work that TCC does out of this TCC facility near the Tok Area Office. TCC hires and manages a Type 2IA wildland fire crew that operates as a State DOF-sponsored crew and is based out of the Tok Area Office.
Tony Lee, Facilities Manager at the Alaska Gateway School District, explains how their biomass furnace heats the Tok School and Greenhouse with biomass harvested from hazardous fuels reduction projects.
Tony Lee, Facilities Manager at the Alaska Gateway School District, explains how this turbine can create electricity for the Tok School.
Tony Lee, Facilities Manager at the Alaska Gateway School District, explains how this antique steam engine has been refurbished and will soon create power for the Tok School and greenhouse.
The Tok School’s greenhouse provides vegetables and learning opportunities for the students, and is heated with energy from the biomass furnace.
At the Tok Experimental Forest, Derek Nellis, DOF Tok Area Forester, describes past research efforts and hazardous fuels projects.
At the Red Fox Fuel Break, Peter Talus, Tok Fire Management Officer, explains the benefits to the community of this fuel break. Wildland fires are common in the Tok area, and this unforested zone will help firefighters get control over a fire approaching the community.
Grinder for processing wood to be utilized by the school district biomass facility.
Ed Packee, formerly with UAF’s Forestry Department, explains some of the work that was done in the Tok Experimental Forest, discussing old growth white spruce forests and the growth and yield plots on the experimental forest.
Joe Young, owner of Young’s Timber, Inc., describes some of the products that his company makes from white spruce timber harvested on State land in the Tanana Valley.  Representative Dave Talerico (in the bright green jacket) joined the Board of Forestry for this day’s tour.
Young’s Timber, Inc. sells timber, lumber, cabin kits, log home siding, firewood and builds cabins.
This machinery at Young’s Timber Inc. processes white spruce logs into 4-sided cants of different dimensions.
Some of the white spruce timber in Joe Young’s sort yard awaiting processing. Different piles are made for different sizes of timber and whether the timber is dry or green.
Timber killed by fire is piled separately from green timber.
Young’s Timber, Inc. has partnered with Tok Wood Fuels, LLC, to build a facility to produce fuel logs made of compressed, kiln-dried wood chips.
While the Board was visiting, Tok Wood Fuels staff was working to calibrate debarking and chipping equipment.
Greg Folk, co-owner of Tok Wood Fuels with Joe Young, shows the power supply for the fuel log facility.
The fuel logs are extremely dense and heavy, and burn much longer than a regular piece of firewood.
Tok Wood Fuels makes their own pallets to ship their fuel logs. They are hoping to ship fuel logs on trucks that now travel back to Fairbanks and Anchorage empty.
Joe Young shows the Board a demonstration log home built from the logs that he mills, and describes his need for a stable and predictable timber supply from the Division of Forestry.
The log home from the outside.
Patricia Young of Young’s Timber, Inc., and Sheri Beck of Tok Wood Fuels, LLC. Pixie the Dog also pictured.
Joe Young shows the machinery and process for milling cants into house logs.
Representative Dave Talerico and Joe Young, Young’s Timber, Inc. We appreciated Representative Talerico joining us on our fieldtrip.
Peter Talus explains the Tok roller-chopping project that was done in the 1990 Burn Area to create multi-age aspen mosaic for wildlife habitat. The project is in partnership with the Alaska Moose Federation and ADF&G.
Derek Nellis discussing aspen regeneration response to roller chopping treatments.
Aspen regeneration after roller-chopping, with Board of Forestry and DOF foresters for scale.
On the flight home from Fairbanks, the Alaska Airlines pilot showed us an up-close view of Denali. (photo credit: Mark Vinsel)

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