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A Day in the Shelterwood

A Day in the Shelterwood
Logger Lee Russell delimbing a large white pine in a shelterwood harvest on the Golden Road in Millinocket, Maine. He leaves tree limbs behind to support habitat for wildlife and add nutrients to the soil as they deteriorate. Photos by Ashley Conte. Select this image or scroll down to view the photo gallery.

Logger and independent contractor Lee Russell has been working in the woods for nearly 30 years, and has been self-employed since 1997. Here, photographer Ashley Conte follows along with Russell as he harvests wood for Katahdin Forest Management along the Golden Road in Millinocket, Maine. This 50-acre site is being managed for shelterwood, and Russell selects the trees to be cut to allow more light on the floor to promote regeneration of spruce and pine. He typically harvests sites anywhere from 20 to 350 acres in size, and often works in timber stands that are under special zoning along waterbodies and call for limited tree removal or prescriptions that include wildlife habitat enhancement. Russell sees opportunity for young people to enter the field as conventional loggers, particularly with smaller tracts of land, and would love to be an instructor some day.

This Web Extra accompanies “An Interview with Lee Russell: A Logger’s View from a Shelterwood Harvest” in the Winter 2021 issue of Northern Woodlands.

A Day in the Shelterwood
With a forester’s prescription for a shelterwood harvest in hand, Russell determines the best way to cut this stand to allow more light on the forest floor to promote regeneration of spruce and pine.
A Day in the Shelterwood
Russell hooking up the delimbed pine to his cable skidder to drag it out to the landing for further processing.
A Day in the Shelterwood
After delimbing, Russell pulls the logs to the landing with his cable skidder.
A Day in the Shelterwood
Russell leaving delimbed white pine logs on the landing.
A Day in the Shelterwood
After pulling the delimbed pines to the landing, Russell bucks up the logs to different lengths and cuts them to grade for the mill.
A Day in the Shelterwood
Russell continues processing a log for the mill.
A Day in the Shelterwood
Russell heads back into the shelterwood with his cable skidder to harvest more white pine. This 50-acre site is adjacent to a pond and has a good concentration of deer. The prescription he worked with here promotes regeneration of spruce and pine; bigger trees that have gone by are left behind to support wildlife habitat.
A Day in the Shelterwood
Russell works six to seven days a week, often up at 1 am to start the work day. He loves working outdoors and the freedom that being an independent contractor allows him. “Loggers are a different breed,” he says. “You have to have a good attitude, because that’s what it takes.”

Discussion *

Jan 03, 2022

I am a landowner for the past 50 years and have worked to plant and improve our woodlands and encourage diversity. Working in the woods is truly a blessing. I don’t work full time in the woods because I and a full time remodeling contractors. It is with great respect for people that work full time to improve our environment. God bless and safety always. Brian Petrocine

Brian Petrocine
Dec 23, 2021

I wish I could be be like Logger Lee Russell out there in the New England Woods cutting trees!! He is doing what he loves to do which is truly amazing in my opinion.

I want to wish everyone at Northern Woodlands a very Merry Christmas & A Happy Healthy New Year!!!

Sincerely, Robert Friedrich

Robert Friedrich

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