Toba Valley Standing-Stem Pole Program

Our client was looking to harvest cedar poles from a broad land base. The aggressive terrain in the area precluded the use of any ground-based mechanical harvesting methods and thus required the use of motor-manual cutting and helicopter yarding. However, hand falling in this type of terrain typically results in significant log breakage unacceptable for poles which are required to be delivered full length.

Beginning with a spatial analysis of digital timber-types, IOG honed in on unique timber profiles meeting our client’s specifications. Once identified, marked, mapped, and permitted, IOG utilized standing-stem harvest techniques to extract the poles without ever having to fall them. Operations were managed to coincide with other logging projects in the valley, both conventional and heli, to ensure costs were minimized wherever possible. This program involved multiple entries over a three year period which resulted in the processing of thousands of poles.