Logging made me feel squirmy, so I went to forestry camp.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- The logging industry is a big deal in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. As someone who likes forests, this made me feel squirmy on the inside, so I went to camp to learn more about what sustainable forestry actually means here. Along the way, I learned that we're making some WILD things out of wood.
Thanks to Michigan Tech for supporting this video, and many thanks to all of the students I talked to for teaching me about their fields! If you want to learn more about the degree programs at MTU, you can click here: bit.ly/MTUforest.
If you want to specifically learn more about the Sustainable Bioproducts degree, you can head over here: www.mtu.edu/fo....
And finally, if you want to learn more about what the field of sustainable bioproducts even is, this page is for you: www.mtu.edu/fo...
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Ms. Dahl: Back in the 1970’s I was an undergrad at the University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources, Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Wildlife. What I quickly learned upon graduation is that field management decision weren’t being made by field mangers. The real decisions were being made by lawyers in Washington, Lansing, corporate legal departments and in state and Federal courtrooms. By 1974, I was back in law school. It is my sincerest hope that today’s Michigan Tech students will be able to practice their crafts without the burdensome oversight and intervention from a small army of lawyers. Respectfully, W.S. j.d.
Whereas what you said, definitely applied back then, thankfully now FIFTY years later, things are done a little differently. Be thankful we learn from our mistakes, and move on from the old ways. This is, of course, not to say they don’t still influence these decisions, but it’s much harder now due to regulation.
I see no evidence that its now done differently. Politions are calling the shots more than ever. Women have no dominion over there own bodies. Maybe make sure yer right before you post.🙄
Another fine video. So encouraging to see a group of dedicated people planning for the future! Thanks 😊
Mrs. Dahl
I attended MTU in the late 60's. I spent a great deal of time hiking the Kewenaw and other Northern UP areas. I just wanted to thankyou for your work and appreciate your infectious enthusiasm. Michigan is lucky to have you and certainly better for it. Thank you from the bottom of my old heart.
G.J.K.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate this note. Thanks for writing!
It was awesome to have you out in the red pine forest with us Alexis! So glad you got to see what we’re learning and how much forestry has changed.
It was so nice to be there and get to learn a little about all this! ☺️
I went to fall camp two years ago, and am graduating this year. I cannot recommend MTU enough to anyone interested in Forestry or natural resources. The professors are compassionate and knowledgeable, the location is outstanding, and fall camp is a learning experience like no other. Thanks for the great video!
let's goooo will!!!
Wow. What a great group of sharp, ambitious students. I always wanted to go into Forestry, but ended up in tech. Now I'm just out in the woods to escape. This looks like a great program, creating confident experts. Our forests are in good hands. Thanks for this video, Alexis!
Sorry, publish a book and give it to a land owner to be the true stewarts of the land. Many unrelated variables will determine the outcome of the land/trees. Small family stewarts will likely have best outcomes. Keep the government away
It strikes me that these students come across as incredibly humble. Not only in their apparent willingness to compromise for the benefit of the forests they're using as hypotheticals, but also in being willing to dedicate their careers to end products that they might never see. Their collaborations with students from other backgrounds and with differing end goals seems like it's doing a lot to help them see different perspectives and then be willing to change their plans.
That struck me, too! I obviously don't have first-hand experience here, but the fact that they're collaborating so early in their careers seems really meaningful and impactful. In any case, they were really such a kind and thoughtful bunch to hang out with.
I have a couple of decades of doing tree work. You don't last long, or survive for that matter, if you are not open minded. These people are typical for people who make their living around trees.
This has been my favorite TH-cam video from you so far. You’ve made me want to go back to school and learn about the forest. I’m 74 and grew up around Detroit. Now I live in Madison, Wisconsin. Maybe spending a few more years in the UP woods is going to be my future. Thank you, AD.
I love this! I'm a Michigan Tech alumna (biochemistry) and daughter just graduated in December (civil engineering). The SFRES graduates are in high demand across the country; sometimes I think if I had it to do all over again, I might consider forestry. Great program. Glad you enjoyed yourself and learned a lot!
I was born in escanaba, raised in a manistique. My grandfather was a cruiser for birds' eyes veneer. As a yooper, the up forest are a gift from god.
I'm sure that you've seen the "new" bridge over the Eagle River in Eagle River. The bridge is made of a type of laminated wooden beam. Very impressive. Nice job on this video!
I seem to always learn something watching your videos. It's refreshing seeing things like this. It means change in how we do things when it comes to our forests, and in turn, industry and our planet.
Keep on teaching us. I enjoy learning.
I love your videos, at 76, I always learn something. I hope your husband is as proud of you as we(viewers) are!! 😊
Aw, thank you, John! I appreciate that so much. (And my husband is absolutely my #1 cheerleader in all of this. 🙂)
I always find it funny how we have building material cycles. At one time wood was considered a old and outdated material. This is really cool.
I had that thought, too!
My father went to Alberta for a forestry class back in the 60s. I enjoy your videos about the part of Michigan where I grew up. I'll have to bring my grandkids who live up there to some of the places you have highlighted.
This is a video that makes me wish university was cheaper or free so i could go back and do something I'm actually interested in rather than just what sounds cool to a17 year old.
I’m glad that you learned that trees are a renewable resource that can be managed for many different purposes while still providing for recreation and biodiversity and hunting management. Leave those California beliefs of untouched pristine forests behind! We use and manage our forests here!
Conserve not preserve! ❤
There is a reason old growth forests are called green deserts. Mixed species wood lots and savannas are vibrant.
Thank you, Alexis. I always learn so much from your videos. You make learning about our beautiful state so interesting. I appreciate all you do that goes into making the videos for us all to learn from.
BRAVO! This is probably the best video explaining sustainable forestry I’ve seen yet! Thank you!
The forest floor will want some of that tree back
As far as carbon capture goes, timber farming is a great carbon sink. Once a forest matures, it doesn't capture anything like as much carbon as a growing forest does. Harvesting trees and planting new ones, especially fast growing ones, captures a ton of carbon compared to mature/static forests.
How do you know this? I agree with you but it is more belief than knowledge. I prefer facts.
@@TheFredmac " young and middle-aged forests - comprising trees between 50 to 140 years of age - played a dominant role in absorbing atmospheric carbon and accumulating biomass.
However, forests that were 140 years old and above were approximately carbon neutral, which is the opposite of vegetation model predictions."
@@John_Ridley well, that brings up a lot of questions. At least now I have a starting point for investigating the subject. Thanks.
@@TheFredmac There are sources on both sides. Some say that large mature trees capture a lot of carbon, others say they're only neutral.
Stunning...simply stunning....my baby bro graduated from Tech in forestry...he just got his 25th year in with his employer. My nephew is following his uncle....and he's moving up the ladder fast. This is so incredible. You have such a fun life! You rock.
Thanks for exploring and highlighting our College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science! 🌲
Hey maybe you can answer my question! These students all seem to have a great understanding of what managing a healthy forest means. But how do these ideals translate into the real world? What are the timber industries actually doing out there? Are they required to hire someone to survey the land and mark trees? Does the DNR or anyone else monitor the process? And are there rules/laws that are actually enforceable?
Thanks!
@@MusicBent hi. I am the outreach coordinator here at the College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science and recently got my Master of Forestry Degree.
The things the students are learning directly apply to our forests when they get hired by government agencies or private companies. We have tons of employers coming to us at Michigan Tech to hire our students because we have one of the only semester long camps like this in the country and they know how valuable this is. Each agency or company is obviously to their own in some aspects, but there are tons of laws and rules that are extremely well enforced. One company, EGLE (Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy) for example, will come check culverts and roads that foresters create for logging (or any other) purposes. These foresters also have to submit paperwork to receive a permit when manipulating soil near streams. This all takes lots of serious thought and hands on skills to be able to accurately fill out the paperwork and do the job correctly. When EGLE comes to check, if things are not complying with their standards (that are the law) the forestry company/agency can get MASSIVE fines.
There is somebody marking trees, nothing puts you out of business faster than cutting down the wrong trees. As mentioned in the video a lot of what is done on a site depends on the property owner. As far as laws and regulations, that varies from place to place.
In the early '70's I got a two-year degree in Natural Resource Conservation, but unfortunately back then there was no place to go with it. No advanced education opportunities, and no jobs in the field. I am utterly thrilled to see this amazing world that you have shown us. Thank you, Alexis, it makes my heart glad, and at the same time sad to see that it has taken so long.
Yep I was in the 7th grade in 1970 and a big push as they would come around and say what type of workers they were going to need in the future and Forestry was the big one they really pounded on that subject. And so it was I graduated in 76 I have an electrical engineering degree what's a minor in civil engineering and when I got into the real world of working one company I work for had several people as draftsman versus back in the good old days as you would know before CAD cam stuff was really starting to kick in and then the technicians and a few other people that I ran into that had forestry degrees and they couldn't use them because the field was so packed that there were no job openings. MTU is probably the best school for a whole host of things they run the gamut and it is great and they produce some fantastic people in the fields they choose. Song from your post I know exactly what you were talking about
It is required by law in Finland that when you cut down forest, you have to make sure a new forest will grow.
When we clearcut forests, we will buy thousands of saplings and plant them manually. Alternative is to leave groups of trees that will seed the new generation. We assist this process by plowing the land, so that seeds have better land to grow and sprout more efficiently. Without plowing the saplings can get crushed by grass and undergrowth.
So when you see a clearcut forest, on the other side it's very easy to get a new forest growing again. In 10 years you'll have a healthy and tall young forest.
I always enjoy your channel. Can you talk about some place in Michigan you hung out with friends and just had some fun. We would camp at White Pines and Rainbow Bend every year . MacMasters Bridge. been a few Decade or so since I been there. Ever been?
Love What You Do keep it simple and 💯you thanks so much!
When I was a student at MTU in the late 80s, we (jokingly) referred to Forestry Engineering Majors & Forestry Tech Majors as Tree and Twig Majors (respectively).
So interesting to see how much those fields have evolved and developed in the last 30+ years.
i was environmental and earth science. really glad i switched out to CIS/BIS >> i would NEVER make as much money as i am now, if i stayed in that degree. sad but true.
I feel like I missed some opportunities when I was at tech.
Give The Squirrel A Chance To Bury The Acorn So A New Oak Tree Comes To Life .What Is Wrong With you Students,Mom Likes Her Wild Birds And Wildlife,,,WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU STUDENTS ???
Thanks for such great learning experience! Love and appreciation all the way from India 🇮🇳💯
Alexis, Interesting video. Always inspiring to see young people excited about what they might do in the future. Keep up the great work you're doing!
It's Just A Sad Site,When You See Michigan Upper peninsula Lands With The Trees Being Logged Out,Those Sites Will Never Grow Back .
Don’t worry, the habitat that woodcutting provides for human beings doesn’t have to be appreciated. How many animals would have to be saved for Ms. Dahl to live out in the woods without a wooden home? Or perhaps move into an entirely concrete home? Just curious.
EXCELLENT !! , classroom then fieldwork in one day . Learn something then do it to further reinforce it .
Sadly, I've seen poor forest management in regions in the Pacific Northwest such as clear cutting thousands of acres, much of which were left bare for decades. The forested area that I lived in had been cut in the teens and twenties. Tree stumps left that were 8 to 10 ft tall and logs left to rot littered the forest. Not a mile away was a region of clear cut forest...in the 50s...never replanted.
Science has manipulated trees to grow faster so harvesting of stripped and replanted regions can be harvested sooner. The problem with these trees are they are less dense. Less density makes wood more susceptible to burning and is less structural.
Sadly, much of the coast of Puget Sound has hazardous sites from pulp processing...Klamath falls has Oregons largest lake yet its not recommended to eat the fish from the lake.
Certainly, I'm glad to see institution's teaching sustainable forestry but all over the PNW you see the result of mismanaged forests.
Interesting note. In Seattle, long ago there was a dirt street lined with drinking establishments and brothels. That same street had been altered to slide harvested longs down to the Sound to be floated to mill. That road with the bars and brothels became known as....Skid Row.
In the town I lived in there is a log. This Douglas Fir log, laying on its side, is about 10 ft. long and 12ft high. One log per truck when this tree was harvested in the 20s.
Love your vids. Always informative.
Great video. I work with some foresters and silviculturists and they do a lot of hard work to manage large compartments and stands of varied types of forests.
5:18 Huge swaths of Europe and Asia ONLY had crooked trees, through millennia of selective pressure by people cutting down the straightest trees first.
My grandfather had no formal education in forestry and he knew all this and did it on our farm.
What! Alexis, this video made me sad. I was very interested and enjoying it, when suddenly, it was over! Keep up the great work!
Fire Will Destroy You Loggers,,, That's Why Canada Is On Fire
in 2020 a Mass timber apartments were built he downtown Milwaukee. 35 storied building called Ascent
Guess what they will never plant Oak, Maple, Beech, Birch or any other tree besides Pine!
What a great video - thanks so much for doing this! Glad to know that there are such a good group of people using an interdisciplinary approach to forest management. I live in Massachusetts, but was in Houghton and on the Keweenaw Peninsula a few years ago - beautiful place with lots of stories. Thanks for the work you do.
I got to go through Fall camp as a MI (Masters International - Peace Corps) Forestry student. It was an amazing experience. Alberta is so unique!
Forests are actually preserved long term because they are economically productive. People only afford to take care of things that bring economic value. It just like hunters are the reason habitat and game animals are preserved.
Maple is a poor choice for a building material as powderpost beetles will turn your structure into an unstable structure. Also steel and concrete are non flammable thus a much safer building material.
Alexis, Thanks. An interesting and fun video. I look forward to your next one 😀
a comment to go along with the like.
"sustainable".
key word.
and not one that forestry mega-companies like to here.
She really said “Trees get grouped by their diameter class”
Fanciest was to say: “loggers can tell the difference between a big and a small tree.”
How Do You Think Wildlife Feels By Taking There Homes And Food .
Students Think How The Flying Squirrel Feels,,,,
Hello Alexis , i was up at Escanaba and Manistique in December 23 . waiting to return in spring , thanks for keeping the great content going.
and what a fine bunch of students already making an impact on the forest health !
I'd be interested in learning a bit more on how harvesting and other plant and animal habitat preservation is involved in decision making.
Students Your Kids Won't Have A Tree To Climb
Thank you for a wonderful new and inspiring video Alexis.
It is very inspiring to see another generation of forestry students studying to make an impact on our ecology here in Michigan that also has ramifications elsewhere.
Thanks for.making interesting content. Fun to listen to at work. 😊
Forest eugenics; how equality works.
Michigan State Law requires that state forest lands generate an income so state foresters will find excuses to shear down sections of forests to meet financial goals. There is enough private forest land in Michigan to stop logging on state lands and hurt no one, no industries or businesses and have our forests do what they do best - grow old and restore themselves to a pre-settlement status.
Thanks for another great video Alexis! If you’d like to read more about logging in the UP, my great-great-great uncle (or something like that), Lewis C Reimann wrote the book “Between the Iron and the Pine” about growing up in Iron River, MI in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. He was also a University of Michigan grad. It sounds like proper forest management was not a concern back then.
Cool, thank you! I am always up for good book recommendations.
I live in South Georgia with pine plantations that are unfortunately planted in long straight rows like corn. The street rose help them harvest all the pine straw to sell as a mulch substitute. Pinova,(closing due to fire) makes tons of products out of the resin from cosmetics to plastics!
Oh, cool! Thanks for sharing! It's always fun to hear about how these stories intersect with other parts of the country.
Can you add a link in the description about who is doing the material research? I'm way beyond worrying about a degree, but I am interested in using better materials to build lightweight camping trailers.
Thanks for asking! What specific materials (or timestamp in the video) are you thinking of? The students I talked to wouldn't be a great fit for your project, but I'm happy to share any resources I came across that might be useful.
@@AlexisDahl What I'm specifically looking for are more natural based structural insulated panels to build a camper with. Knowing that Tech students and researchers work with large companies I used to work with, I was hoping that they would have companies that benefit from the research they do with using all of the tree materials.
Excellent subject! Great video once again!
But steel and concrete are fire resistant, stronger and longer lasting.
I am originally from Wisconsin. In northern Wisconsin, logging is almost as big of an industry as in the Upper Peninsula. Both states have amazing forest management. If you want to see what poor forest management looks like, just look to the west where all the fires have been. I currently live in Colorado and our forests are filled with deadfall. The pine beetles took out vast swaths of our forests and nobody went in to clean out the dead stuff. It could have all been used, but instead it sits there waiting for lightning to hit and start a nearly uncontrollable fire. California is also bad at forest management.
Very nice. MTU !!!
I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS
You should consider covering the Keweenaw Heartlands project, a 32,000 acre multi organization opportunity that could have a great influence on the future of natural resources and recreation in the Copper Country. I have some contact information if you need it. (I tried to put a link to this project in previous attempts of this comment but TH-cam apparently didn't like that).
Thanks, Jim! I'm on the e-mail list for the project, but hadn't made the connection to consider it for a video. I'll give some consideration to this! I appreciate you thinking of it.
Great video Alexis!
Great Job, Nicole!!
Awesome, I went to forestry college for 2 years, it made me realize we're not cutting enough, the forest fires here in Canada were proof positive of that fact, harvest it or it burns, that's the hard truth that most environmentalists don't want to face up to.
Another great video, thanks!
unrelated, but i had those boots! they were really nice, comfy, and grippy but the soles were too soft and wore through in about a year (lots of concrete walking for work)
once those are done, check out some nice keens! they last forever. thanks for the video!
Glad you enjoyed the video - and thanks for the boot recommendation, ha ha!
So far clouds not snow Michigan
Facinating!
Thanks
I just found you today. Im so lucky.👍❤
Props to the peeps who are doing this kind of work and education "near" your home in Michigan (I'm aware that it's a big state). Similar programs are also at SUNY ESF and UMaine (a member of the University of Maine System)-the later of which hosts collaborations through USDA, Forest Bioproducts Research Institute, and the Advanced Structures & Composites Center. No matter where in the Republic you are, people are doing cool things and want more creative and inventive students & researchers who want to do and learn cool "stuff".
We're getting quite a bit of snow here in Ohio today. I hope things are better in Michigan.
Ha, I think it depends on your definition of better! My part of the Upper Peninsula has been absolutely blanketed in snow over the last week, but that happens frequently enough that it hasn't seriously affected things like travel or grocery availability. 🙂 Stay safe down there!
@@AlexisDahl I think they said on the news this morning that about 25% of the US population is under some kind of winter weather advisory/warning. None of my four classes I am teaching this semester are scheduled for Fridays, so I'm just staying home for the day.
I loved going to the UP as a kid, cabin and atvs, the planted pines and trails, now I live near a planted forest of oaks I think, it's a nature preserve. Anyway really good video. Thank you.
Oh, dang. I'm glad you don't have to travel today!
@@AlexisDahl Yes, thanks!
I appreciate your video’s explaining the real deep down beauty of the U.P.
As time goes on and you spend more time speaking with the locals, you’ll pick up the language of the fin and sound more like one of the locals, and not a troll under the bridge such as myself. Great job with your channel and your quest to educate.
Thanks for a good look into this topic. Wish MI Tech had a degree program I was interested in years ago. I would have enjoyed being there.
It would be fascinating (likely troubling, but also informative) to know where all the timber harvesting money goes that has ties to public land timber harvesting.
🌲 🙏 ⚓️ ☀️ 🌳
Responsible forestry is very important. Health of forest, forest fire prevention, habitats, and wood related products are very important. The problem that exists is basic human greed. There are too many corrupt logging companies that ignore forestry laws or manipulate politicians into letting do far more harm than good. I know people in Canada trying to expose some of the corrupt companies and they are gettin chased off from filming them breaking logging policies. Any evidence reported is largely ignored because local politicians are bought off. Greed ruins everything.
I did mechanical engineering … class/test/graduate … learn on the job … wasn’t happy … quit and went to U of Montana in forestry … class intro/ field work/ class to discuss/test/graduate … fully functional in my job and happy …
We really need to change how we educate engineers !!!
What I learned as a forester in the PNW is that far too little attention was paid to the soil and ephemeral watersheds (the capillaries, if you will, often invisible during the summer but crtical to the larger 'arteries'). Moreover, the typical douglas-fir plantation was rife with native pathogenic fungi that at times destroyed a large proportion of the expected yield. Allowing natural succession of non-commercial species (eg alder) prevents this,and fixes nitrogen, but few want to add another 30 years to the harvest cycle.
Even with somewhat more holistic viewpoints, this video is rife with the hubris of management. Just the selection of 'desirable' trees is extraordinarily impactful, as the couple of dimensions in which we evaluate a tree's value is a tiny fraction of the challenges natural selection works upon -- the genetics of a 'pretty' tree may be less resistant to theeats that we do not understand and have only arisen sporadically in the long tume if evolution. Just remember the one constant of natural resource management is that the new generation always thinks they are not making the same basic mistakes as the past generation.
We own a cabin in the middle of Hiawatha NF in the UP. Needless to say there’s a lot of managed forest around us. I couple of years ago it was a bit distressing when they cut some areas right near us. However we were surprised at how quickly the area bounced back after the cutting stopped. It initially looked pretty unsightly, but after a year the area was green again with brush and it didn’t look “clear cut.”
On a related note, I've become involved in nonprofit land-trust management. Once a Forester and other tradespeople have been consulted there's often a lot more work yet to be done. Volunteer to help keep your region in great condition for generations to come. We can really use the help.
Alexis I hope the group of students you interviewed are not unique to MI but rather represent a generation of reasonable and logic driven students. Their responses to your questions were clear, detailed and knowledgable. This was a was done video and you should be very proud. I hope it gets notice fare beyond your channel. Thank you.
Ms. Dah, Thank you This took me back to 1974. I spent the summer at FFC,
Thank you for having sense enough to learn about it and go beyond your initial biases. I have tons of respect for you after this video and I'm far more interested in your content now.
The neat sustainable building being built at 8:30 is on Michigan State Universities campus, it is attached to a decommissioned coal power plant that used to power MSU's campus in the late 40's.
Amazing video. What a great approach to sustainability, innovation and stewardship!
why are they wearing hard hats? Genuinely interested.
My understanding is that it was to get in the habit of good safety practices (even if they weren't strictly needed that day). Thanks for asking!
The issue is, they leave so much tree waste behind. Making the ground non conducive to growth. Also, how many loggers follow the rules. I watched a neighboring property to mine get cleared of old growth huge beach trees. They left so much tree waste behind nothing grows. It’s even worse out in the Pacific Northeast…
As always, a very interesting video! Thank you!
This was such a great video and my kids enjoyed having a glimpse into all that trees can do.
Another good video. Your production quality is great.
This is an awesome video! It's so fun watching something you seem so excited about
I wish I would have known about something like this when I was going to school.
Great video, thank you. Love the sponsorship too, great idea!
I did Fall Camp at Michigan Tech in 2003! Today, I’m the school forester for a Division 1 college in the SEC. I use the things I learned at Fall Camp every day.
Spread the propaganda