FORESTERS FALLS — The landscaping at the corner of Fletcher and Government roads has a whole new look, now that approximately 30 acres of trees and brush have been clear-cut.
The property, which was purchased last year by Fepro Farms (Klaesi family), was cleared for more farmland, said David Wood, owner of Triland Environmental of Peterborough.
“We do a lot of work like this,” he said.
This work the company does includes clear-cutting, harvesting pine, big rock landscaping and seeding solar farms, he said.
The clear-cutting at the corner lot began Jan. 5 and is expected to be done by today (Jan. 22). The trees were felled by Jan. 19, Mr. Wood said.
When the job began, he recalled several vehicles stopping along Government Road to watch the operation.
“The first or second day, there were about 12 vehicles,” he said, adding with a laugh, “I wasn’t sure why, so I even looked behind me to see if there was a fire or something.”
While some people have come in and talked to the guys about what’s happening, there are others who just sit at the roadside watching the machines at work, he said. Mr. Wood said one man (Doug Haycock) came with a tray of tarts that had been made by his wife.
At this job site, he said the people who have come and talked have been sensible in their conversations. Explaining, he said at other areas where the company has been hired to clear-cut, there have been confrontations.
“If you come and are confrontational, I’ll leave you alone,” he said.
For this job, there are eight employees and several machines on site, he said. There are three excavators, feller/buncher, grapple skidder, horizontal grinder, Wartah processing head (wood processor) and a grapple loader. The employees stay at the Cobden motel for the week and go home for the weekends, he said. Mr. Wood said he prefers to stay in the town or near the town he’s working in so the money remains there.
The wood cleared is not going to waste, Mr. Wood said. Some logs are going to Bauman’s (near Kitchener) to be made into toboggans and sleighs, other logs are going to area lumber companies; while firewood has been sold locally, he explained.
The land will remain stumpy looking until the Klaesi family removes them in the spring and summer, he said.
“They’ll shake more dirt off of them and then probably create a berm somewhere,” Mr. Wood said.
Mr. Wood said there are probably many rumours going around about how much it costs for an operation like this, but he said there are many factors to take into consideration at each job site. While he didn’t want to mention a fee, mostly because he hasn’t completed the job, he did admit the fuel for the machines is about $2,500 a day.
Mr. Wood said while the fuel is in locked tanks, the property isn’t, and that will change. Firewood was removed illegally from the property over the weekend.
While this job site is completed, Mr. Wood said there is another job nearby to be completed, so they’ll be in the area for a little longer.
