The next time you visit the Rudolph Environmental Center, the forest will look noticeably open in some areas. Logger Cody Bergman started work on the harvest this week (2/25/15)! The harvest will take place on about 7 of the 33 acres of the REC. The first area that was selectively harvested for jack pines was the upland area along the road. This area is pictured under the harvester on the left side. Marks on the logs pictured below are from the harvester as it slides each log to position them for stacking. Later the piles will be moved and then loaded onto a truck for market.
Cody also began the selective harvest in the bottomland area in the central part of the REC. The 5th and 6th pictures show that area. There will also be a clear-cut in the middle of the bottoms. This will provide an opportunity to see the forest regenerate with and without deer grazing as there are plans to build an exclosure in the cut.
The red pine plantation will be thinned by about 1/3 to allow for the remaining trees to grow into saw timber for lumber. Most of the total harvest will be sold as pulp to be made into paper.
There will be plenty of opportunities to volunteer with the deer exclosure project and replanting some of the harvested areas with maples in May. Stay tuned for more pictures!
 The harvest is almost complete. Most of the trees marked for harvest have been felled and cut into 'sticks' or about 100 inch logs. It might look a little messy if you visit since the stacked logs are still scattered through the cut area. Soon, the skidders will move all of the logs to the staging area for pick up. Here are some pictures of the red pine plantation thinning, a white pine log, and a couple of the bottom land clear cut. The clear cut pictures were taken from the northwest side of the bottom land facing south from where the trail forks.
 The logs were moved in March to await pick up for sale to mills in Tomahawk, Mosinee, and Wisconsin Rapids. After the county road limits were removed, trucks came and took the logs.
The REC looks very different in some places, especially the clear cut in the middle of the bottomland area between the marsh and the slough.
Trees were planted in various areas (see REC minutes 2015 June for details) to replace some of the trees harvested and increase biodiversity. | 
