Keeping Busy At Weyerhaeuser
June 3, 2014 2:18 pm Leave your thoughts
Blog #2 Keeping Busy at Weyerhaeuser
Since starting my Internship with Weyerhaeuser the main question that friends and family have been asking me is what kind of jobs I am doing here. So I thought throughout the week I would take pictures and write a blog about some of the jobs that are keeping me busy!
Ribboning Planting boundaries for planters is important and can be done for many different reasons. The boundary can simply illustrate the edge of the cut-block, or it can create a border between two different soil conditions that may require different planting techniques or types of trees. This particular line separates two different bio-geoclimatic zones, meaning that because of local geography in this case elevation, distinctive tree species will have a better chance of surviving in the two respective zones.
Painting cut-block boundary is a switch from working in the already harvested cut-blocks. Weyerhaeuser is trying to move away from using paint, but because of the irregular shape of this particular block painting helps to reinforce that boundary so that it’s easier to tell which trees are and aren’t acceptable to be harvested.
Scanning burn piles to check for hangover fires from the previous fall. Every year in the fall piles of excess woody debris are burned, if mud and dirt get mixed in with the debris this can cause the fire to smolder over the winter and still be hot in the following year. Scanning these piles to make sure they are completely out ensures that a fire will not start during the hot and dry summer here in Princeton.
If there is still time in the day and there isn’t enough to time to do more in the field I am kept busy helping with the transition into a more paperless workplace. Scanning policy binders into a computer accessible database discontinues the need to print these policies out and keep them in a binder and streamlines the process of hunting documents that may be needed.
Another job that I do not have a picture for is helping to unload and keep inventory of the trees that are ordered by Weyerhaeuser’s planting contractors. This year it is planned to plant over 2 million trees, and the curling rink, where the trees are stored will hold around 4 million seedlings with other licensees included, all being managed by Weyerhaeuser. Making sure that all trees that are ordered are delivered, and kept track of is imperative to staying organized and leads to a smoother planting process.