Twisted tree trunks in an Adirondack winter forest
A Forest Enterprise Institute Publication · Second Edition

Forest Enterprises
of the Adirondacksby Steven Bick

Portraits of the loggers, foresters, and small business owners
at work in New York's Adirondack woods

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Enterprising small business owners are at work in the Adirondack woods. While earlier generations called them lumbermen, today they are loggers. If you ask these loggers what they do, "work in the woods" is a standard reply. This simple phrase sums up an open-air lifestyle of endless challenges and problem solving. Markets reward them for both the wood products they create and the care they take in protecting the land.

This book introduces some of the characters that play a role in forest enterprises of New York's Adirondacks. Through vivid photographs and first-hand reporting, it presents a contemporary view of logging — updating the public image of an industry whose workers are truly stewards of the woods, with livelihoods that hinge on the continued vitality and productivity of the forests.

In the Adirondacks, there are as many different approaches to logging as there are loggers. Each chapter profiles a different enterprise, from the Levi family's fight for efficiency amid labor shortages and tight margins, to Francis VanAlstine's use of old equipment on the forests of the Adirondack elite, to Bill and Tim O'Brien's conversion of a dairy farm into a family forest operation.

Snow-dusted hardwood log ends on an Adirondack landing
"Write something interesting this time."
— Jennifer Hartsig, to the author
From the Book

At Work in the Woods

The photographs tell the story of an industry as diverse as the forests it works in.

Logger surveying felled timber
Hardwood logs piled on a winter landing
Young logger walking from the bush
Prentice loader and hardwood logs
Skid road through summer hardwoods
Harvest site with fresh stump and standing timber
Man with compact tractor on an Adirondack road
Forest stream flowing through Adirondack hardwoods
Inside the Book

Chapters

Ten portraits of Adirondack forest enterprises, bookended by context and reflection.

  1. 1
    At Work in the WoodsThey're not elves, but they are hard at work out there every day
  2. 2
    StumpedEach stump is a reminder of past and future benefits from the forest
  3. 3
    Good FellersThe Levi family strives for efficiency amid labor shortages and tight margins
  4. 4
    RustificationFrancis VanAlstine uses old equipment to work on the forests of the Adirondack elite
  5. 5
    North Lake LegacyBruce and Ted Koenig pass on back woods know-how to Ted's son Eric
  6. 6
    Forwarder ThinkingTom Donnelly looks into the future supply and adopts a new mix of equipment
  7. 7
    Destined to FlailPaul Mitchell solves the mystery of how to make money from unwanted trees
  8. 8
    Wood is WonderfulBob Coscomb Jr. embraces his heritage in a part-time forest enterprise
  9. 9
    Living on the Woods' EdgeTom Bartiss combines thrifty utilization with low-impact techniques on small woodlots
  10. 10
    Vertical Integration & Farm Work EmancipationBill and Tim O'Brien convert a dairy farm into a family forest operation
"There's no single best way of doing things here, so we try a little bit of everything."
— An Adirondack logger
Stack of sawn hardwood lumber
About the Author

Steven Bick

Dr. Steven Bick is a consulting forester, educator, and founder of Northeast Forests LLC. With over thirty years of experience in forestry and related fields, Steve simplifies theories and ideas into practical actions, publications, and products that help forests, people, and rural enterprises. He is the author or coauthor of eleven books on forestry and conservation topics and the director of the Forest Business School.

Much of what has been written for a general audience about logging is historical. This book presents a contemporary view in the hope of updating the public image of loggers in the Adirondacks — the good old days as known by the generation working in the woods today.

Northeast Forests LLC Logging Chance Forest Business School
Man looking into an Adirondack forest
Get Your Copy

Forest Enterprises of the Adirondacks

Available from the Northeastern Loggers' Association.

Second Edition · ISBN 978-0-9794401-6-8 · 238 pages

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Published by the Forest Enterprise Institute · Thendara, New York