References

Careers in the Logging Industry

Timber harvesting, the most basic forest management activity, is an important part of keeping both forests and the communities that depend on them healthy and sustainable. Skillful logging creates wildlife habitat and protects streams from erosion and landscapes from fire, while supporting our country’s seventh largest industry: forest product manufacturing. Building products, paper products, and packaging materials are derived from harvested timber, as are a wide variety of consumer products, such as tissue and medical dressings—and new products are constantly under development. Forest-based materials are also becoming an important part of the quest for renewable energy. The people who harvest, process, and transport timber—loggers—make it all possible. Nationwide, demand for forest products is growing, and the demand for logging services is also growing!

What Types of Jobs are on a Logging Operation?

Motor-Manual Logging Operation

A chain saw operator fells the trees, a skidder operator skids them to a staging area, or landing, where a slasher operator, or sometimes a manual chain saw operator, cuts them to length, and a loader operator sorts them and lifts them onto a truck. A truck driver trims the load and transports it to market. On a “high-lead” operation, a suspended cable (rather than a skidder) conveys the harvested log to the landing.

Mechanized Logging Operation

Most operators work within machine cabs, rather than with chain saws. Contractors may use any of several harvesting and skidding configurations, all of which require skilled operators for cutting trees and skidding them to the landing. Methods for delimbing vary, from stationary “gates” (through which the skidder operator backs his “twitch” or “bunch”) to sophisticated mechanical means. A “knuckleboom loader” loads the trimmed trees or logs onto a truck for transport.

Cut-To-Length Operation

An operator within a cab with computerized measurement capabilities severs the standing tree and, still gripping it with a processor-head, strips off the limbs, and cuts it to specified lengths. A wheeled or tracked forwarder then picks up the processed pieces and transports the load to the landing. A loader then transfers the fully processed logs to the truck for transport.

In-Woods Chipping Operation

Many pulpwood and forest biomass loggers today convert their harvest to chips in the woods and deliver chips, rather than U, to mills that use wood in that form. A grapple operator at the landing pushes harvested trees into the in-feed, where a mechanized process chips or grinds the stems and blows the resulting product into a van for transport to the mill.

Additional Career Opportunties

  • Maintenance & Trades
  • Management & Executives
  • Mill Operations
  • Silviculture & Reforestation
  • Sales & Marketing
  • Technologists & Technicians
  • Wildfire Firefighting
  • Administration
  • Accounting & Finance
  • Conservation & Fisheries
  • Engineering
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Logging Operations
  • Health, Safety & Training
  • IT, Computers & GIS

Institutions of Higher Learning

Michigan

Michigan State University – Department of Forestry

Michigan Technological University – School of Forest Resources & Environmental Science

University of Michigan – School of Natural Resources & Environment

Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin Madison – Department of Forest & Wildlife Ecology

University of Wisconsin Stevens Point – College of Natural Resources

Legislative References

Michigan

DMV

Transportation

For a list of all permits/laws please visit Michigan Department of Transportation

2013 WI Act 48-Hauling between Michigan and Wisconsin

MAP-2013 WI Act 48-Hauling between Michigan and Wisconsin

Information on the Movement of Oversize or Overwieght Vehicles and Loads

Multiple Trip Overweight and Oversize Permits for Vehicles Operating Near the Wisconsin-Michigan Border

Maximum Legal Truck Loadings and Dimensions

Load Securement Requirement (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration)

Truck-Weight Law and Truck-User Fees

Bridges with Load Limit Restrictions (MDOT website)

Maximum Axle Loadings in Relation to Tire Sizes

Environmental

Boiler Mact (EPA website)

Lake States FECV Assessment

Pending Issues

Northern Long-Eared Bat (NLEB) (US Fish & Wildlife Service website)

County Distribution of Federally-Listed Threatened, Endangered, Proposed, and Candidate Species (US Fish & Wildlife Service website)

Paper Conversion - Adding Value in Wisconsin

Two Decades of United States Import Trends for Converted Paper Products

Wisconsin

Pre-Feasibility Study

COVID-19 State of Wisconsin Resources
DMV

Transportation

For a list of all permits/laws please visit Wisconsin Department of Transportation

Right to Practice Law

2013 WI Act 48-Hauling between Michigan and Wisconsin

MAP-2013 WI Act 48-Hauling between Michigan and Wisconsin

Vehicles - Size, Weight and Load (Wisconsin State Legislature website)

Multiple Trip Overweight and Oversize Permits for Vehicles Operating Near the Wisconsin-Michigan Border

Multiple Trip Permits for Oversize or Overweight Vehicles or Loads

Single Trip Permits For Oversize or Overweight Vehicles or Loads

Axle Configuration/Load Limits

Overweight Permits Information

Load Securement Requirements

Frozen Road Declaration

Raw Forest Products, Fruits or Vegetables Permits

Wood Harvesting Slashers

Requirements for Trailer and Semi-Trailer Brake, Hitch and Coupling, Saftey Chains, Cables and Leveling Bars

Environmental

Boiler Mact (EPA website)

Lake States FECV Assessment

Pending Issues

Northern Long-Eared Bat (NLEB) (US Fish & Wildlife Service website)

County Distribution of Federally-listed Endangered, Threatened, Proposed and Candidate Species

Paper Conversion - Adding Value in Wisconsin

Two Decades of United States Import Trends for Converted Paper Products

Join Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association today!

Learn More

The Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association (GLTPA)

Provides proven leadership in the Lake States Forest products industry for over 70 years. GLTPA is a non-profit organization proud to represent members in Michigan and Wisconsin and is committed to leading Forest Products Industry in sustainable forest management.

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