Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RICHARD JENKINS
Hurley — The Hurley and Mercer students in Iron County's Woods and Waters program had a chance to see some of the commercial uses of the trees in the Northwoods as they toured some of the local timber companies Wednesday.
The tours were designed to give students an idea of what happens to the trees after they are logged.
“It dawned on me last year ... where we had our tour of the logging aspect of (the timber industry),” said Iron County conservation specialist Zach Wilson. “It dawned on me that that tree goes through so many other different hands — from the tree, to the logger, to the trucker, to here. This is the piece we hadn't talked about.”
The Woods and Waters program is funded through the county's forestry department, as well as its land and waters conservation department. Now in its 19th year, Wilson said the students also take part in marten tracking, as well as an ongoing loon project and water quality work.
Wednesday's tours began in the Hurley Industrial Park, where the students toured Snowbelt Hardwoods and three of its sister companies — Snow Ridge Lumber, Snow Country Hardwoods and Snow Timber Pellets.
The students started in the log yard where the cut logs are stored, saw the operations in the saw mill and then toured kiln and boilers that dry the wood as well as where it is turned into various products. The companies produce everything from flooring and fuel pellets to lumber that is shipped around the world.
By touring the companies and seeing the different products, the students saw the variety of job possibilities in the timber industry beyond simply logging.
“There was more to the industry than meets the eye. Most of the younger generation doesn't really realize what goes into the lumber industry,” said Tyler Francois, one of the partners in the companies.
Francois said the industry doesn't have many young people in it that aren't in a family business. He said he hoped the tour and similar efforts were an opportunity to expose the kids to possible careers they may not have been aware of.
The effort already seems to be working, as Francois said several of the students approached him about job applications.
“We didn't expect that, but it's always a pleasant surprise,” he said.
In the afternoon, the students also toured Bessemer Plywood Corporation.
Introducing students to possible careers is also one of the main points of the Woods and Waters program, according to Wilson.
“We are losing our youth, we are losing our young people,” he said. “We need to show them that there are jobs here where they can come back and raise a family.”
