The objectives of this project are to develop settings for DNR's North Beacon Sale, as shown in the site description section of this report. The setting design will address several topics, including the identification of sensitive areas, stand conditions, setting boundaries, and harvest systems feasibility and production estimates. This project also meets the objective of providing the University of Washington Senior Forest Engineering Design Class with a realistic and practical design experience. The North Beacon Timber Sale is located in Township 24/25 N, Range 3 W, near Hoodsport, WA on the east side of the Olympic Peninsula. The stands are heavily dominated by Douglass Fir with average diameter at breast height of 15 to 26 inches. Average tree heights range from 85 to 134 feet. The area contains three small streams (type 4 and 5) and a power line. Currently, there are no roads, but there is a road planned. Sensitive areas can be broken down into four sections: Topography, erosion/slope/soil conditions, environmentally sensitive areas, and hazardous working areas. Topography is not a major constraint in the North Beacon Timber Sale. The highest slope encountered is approximately 50% in the southeast corner. Soil conditions are also not major constraints. The Hoodsport soil type that dominates this area is not likely to cause problems. There are a few environmentally sensitive areas. These are found along the three streams in the sale, and in the wildlife leave tree area on the west edge of the sale. 100 foot buffers were used to protect the streams, and a wildlife leave tree area was designated. The powerline provides a hazardous working condition. A 100 foot buffer was created around it, as well. The stand conditions were determined using the LMS program. This program allows users to input data for a stand or stands and use a geographic growth model developed by the Forest Service to grow the trees and estimate size, volume, and density for the stand. There are four stands in the North Beacon Timber Sale. Only two of these will be harvested, however. For each of these stands (stand 1 and stand 3), a design tree was assumed to be the average plus one standard deviation. These values were then used for production estimates, LoggerPC analysis, and cost analysis. Stand 1: The design tree for stand 1 has a DBH of 31.9 inches, height of 160.1 feet, and total volume of 240.9 ft3. Stand 3: The design tree for stand 3 has a DBH of 20.9 inches, height of 110.5 feet, and total volume of 101.6 ft3. Once the design tree was determined, a payload estimate could be made for use in LoggerPC analysis. The payload was determined by finding the weight of 3.5 logs from the design tree. For stand 1, the payload was 10,638.5 lbs. For stand 3, it was 6803.8 lbs. The boundaries of the North Beacon sale were given to us by the DNR. However, these boundaries were modified by the 100-foot stream buffers around the type 4 and type 5 streams as well as the wildlife reserve trees area in the northwest and south east corners. Also, there is a 100-foot buffer around the power line in the eastern section of the sale area. The LoggerPC program allows you to determine the yarding equipment needed based on the ground profile and the payload information found in the stand condition report. With this information, using a process of trial and error, the size of yarding tower and the height of the tailspars are determined. Given a tag length of 12 to 15 feet, 32 foot logs, and the design tree information, a 70 foot tower with 30 foot tail spar is necessary. The analysis was performed for a live skyline system with 1.125 inch wire rope. This provides three feet of partial clearance, and a minimum payload of 4,349 lbs. The maximum payload is 14,735 lbs. The production analysis was performed by merging the results of three published yarding productivity equations. The equations were merged using a regression analysis with the help of Microsoft Excel. The results of the analysis were a series of values for minutes/turn. These results averaged about 7.5 minutes per turn, assuming no delays. With a 20% delay factor, the turn time increases to about 9 minutes. This is approximately 45,500 board feet per day. At this rate, the operation will take 75 to 80 days to complete. The cost analysis was performed using the WFI Logging Costs program. It calculates the harvesting costs based on the different types of equipment to be used. The cost for each type of equipment was found in terms of cost/Mbf. For a 70 foot yarder, the cost ranged from about $60/Mbf to $85/Mbf depending on the inputs and whether yarding was up or down hill. For ground based yarding with a shovel, the cost was about $40/Mbf. These values assume a production of 11 truck loads/day for the cable systems and 12 truck loads/day for the shovel. Next, the total harvesting cost was determined by multiplying the cost/volume for each system by the total volume to be yarded by these systems. Uphill cable yarding costs were approximately $58,000. Downhill yarding costs were about $47,000. Harvest costs for the shovel yarding operation were about $83,000. The total harvesting costs for the North Beacon Timber Sale were about $188,000. Based on the ground profile and stand conditions, a 70 foot tower yarder with 30 foot tailspar is adequate to log the steeper sections of the North Beacon Timber Sale. A shovel loader is adequate for the flatter sections, with the proposed road acting as a continuous landing. This operation will have a productivity rate of about 9 minutes per turn, or 10 truck loads per day. The total harvesting costs will be approximately $188,000 and will take 75 to 80 days to complete. |
