DAVIS TOWNSHIP — Nathan Kay handed out hardhats and safety vests to a diverse group gathered during the early morning hours at the Maine Forestry Museum.

Nearly two dozen adults and children, some from as far away as Tennessee, listened intently as Kay gave an overview of the adventure they were about to embark on.

The group had a common interest: to learn about sustainable forestry practices.

Kay, district resource manager for Seven Islands Land Company, was about to lead the group on an annual tour of an active logging operation in the Kennebago River area where he would share his knowledge of timber management in a commercial working forest. As an added bonus, the public tour on of Friday, July 11, would also include seeing modern equipment in use.

Seven Islands manages the forests owned by Pingree Forestlands. What began as an investment in timberlands in the mid-1800s by David Pingree Sr., a successful shipping merchant from Salem, Massachusetts, has become a legacy of landownership.

The Pingree family is the fourth largest landowner in the state with 820,000 acres. In the Rangeley region, the family owns 180,000 acres.

“We are proud of what we do. The land is in its eighth generation of ownership. It has been owned by the Pingree family since 1841. They take a lot of pride in the management of the land,” Kay said.

The land is in a forest conservation easement, meaning timber will be able to be sustainably harvested from the land in perpetuity, he explained.

Public outreach is part of Kay’s job. Seven Islands partners extensively with forestry associations and resources to explore opportunities to engage with the public.

Once on site, Kay explained the thought that goes into sustainable timber harvesting and woodland management. Harvesting 10 cords of wood per acre every 15 to 20 years allows for sustainability. There are three reasons to harvest timber: to allow growth, to reproduce and to repair.

Thinning trees allows others to grow larger, he explained. When crowded, trees grow in height rather than in diameter. Opening the canopy to bring in sunlight also allows for growth. Harvesting a stand of timber also allows for desired species, such as longer-life sugar maple and yellow birch, to regenerate. Finally, timber is harvested to ensure the healthy trees thrive.

Kay compared the practice to that of a gardener who thins out seedlings to allow the strongest plants in the garden space to grow.

The timber harvest begins with a prescription written by forestry management to ensure woodland health. Equipment operators use the prescriptions to map out which areas to harvest.

GCA Logging of Avon was on site with modern harvesting equipment.

“Skidders are obsolete,” said Aaron Adams, GCA’s owner. “The equipment we use today is mechanized and modernized.”

Machinery cabs are equipped with digital screens to display prescriptions. Operators are able to input milling specifications, allowing the machine to cut timber to length as it is harvested. Satellite radio, small refrigerators and tiny ovens can be found in some equipment, he said. The added conveniences are appreciated by those working deep in the woods for 12-hour shifts, Adams said.

Winter is ideal for logging because the ground is frozen, Adams said. Timber becomes slippery once the weather begins to warm up in the spring. In the summer, bark tends to peel off lumber as it is being worked.

There are three pieces of equipment needed in a harvesting operation.  The harvester, or processor, has an extendable arm outfitted with impressive saws. It is used to harvest, strip and cut timber to length, as prescribed. The forwarder has an extendable arm with a claw to move harvested timber from the forest to the roadside. Logging trucks transport timber to milling or pulp facilities.

The limb and timber pieces left after harvesting, known as “slash,” is an important part of the sustainability cycle, Kay said.

“Slash helps with soil stabilization during operations,” he explained. “It is broken up as equipment moves over it. Eventually the material will break down and will feed back into the soil.”

Kay said it only takes about a year or two after a harvest is complete to see seed germinating on the trails of decaying slash.

Kay has offered the Working Woods Tour during Maine Forestry Museum’s Logging Festival for the past three years.

“The approach of the museum and the festival is to highlight the history of forestry,” he said. “My thought was a tour of a modern active logging operation would give people a different perspective. The tours expose what it is we do. People see logging trucks rolling through town but they rarely see our work because it is so remote.”

The industry is facing a challenging demographic shift of operators, who “are retiring and there are not enough new operators to take their place,” Kay said.

To address the issue, Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast partnered with Kennebec Valley Community College and Northern Maine Community College to develop tuition-free mechanized logging operations and forest trucking programs.

He was quick to point out there were many career paths to choose from in timber management.

“You can work for the state, a private landowner, or on a federal level,” he said. “You can operate equipment, manage woodlands, analyze resources, or focus on forest economics. There are so many avenues to pursue. It is such a diverse industry with many pathways for a fulfilling career. This is a concerted effort. Everyone wants the same end goal. We want our forests to be sustainable and thriving so we can continue doing what we do.”