February 8, 2002 Independent loggers are a very rare breed

Logging and lumbering has been a major force in the life of northerners since the 1850s, and in spite of the current softwood lumber dispute, continues to be so today. There are several successful large companies in the business, but my greatest respect goes out to the independent loggers who handle their own expenses, equipment, the government bureaucracy and their own sales. I wrote about Lewis Kent here recently, and today want to talk about Powassan’s Larry Young, whose family has been in the business for decades and who is currently logging on 100 acres of Crown land (concession 3, lot 5) across Bear Mountain Road from me in south Chisholm Township. 
 

Larry Young and son Darren, cutting logs at their current depot in Chisholm Township with some of their equipment and their school bus office in the background.  Doug Mackey photo.

Larry and his wife Marilyn (Storie) and their three sons (nicknames in brackets) Mike (Joe), Derek (Meth) and Darren (Frank), who work with them in season, are fourth generation loggers in the area. Alphonse Young (1876-1939) came to Trout Creek from Alsace Lorraine before the turn of the century, married Mina Korman, and worked for the Standard Chemical Company as a logger. 
 

Alphonse Young, second from the right (inset), working for the Standard Chemical Company in South River.

Alphonse’s son Bernard (Barney) Young (1914-1996) married Rita Grabowski, had eight children, and worked for years as a jobber with people like Leo Kervin in Temagami. He eventually had a sawmill and fuel wood business for many years, five kilometers west of Trout Creek on Highway 522. Larry learned the business from his dad, and went on his own in 1986. Barney’s son Bob was the reeve of South Himsworth for years, and became the first mayor of the newly amalgamated town of Powassan on Jan. 1, 2001. 

Barney Young harvested logs and cut fuel wood and in the early 1970s— about the time I moved here— bought the hundred acres to the north of me (C3, L7) and logged and cut fuel wood there. He was known throughout the district as the “Wood King” and besides selling lumber, sold upwards of 1,500 cords of prime fire wood a year for years. 
 

Bernard (Barney) Young with his team in the 1930s.

A year ago, Larry wanted a video made showing his family and business, and asked my son and I to produce it. We had the pleasure of spending many hours in the bush with him, his wife, and their three sons. We also visited his cottage on Mary Lake, his home and office, his son Darren’s sawmill next door, and his firewood depot nearby on Highway 534 east of Powassan. 

We were impressed by the efficiency of their operation, the family teamwork, and their physical stamina. 

Most of their cutting is done in a 10-week period in mid winter when the ground is frozen. 

Two years ago they had only five weeks to make their cut. Larry and Marilyn’s sons, and for years their daughter Leanne, have helped since their pre-teens, and when in full production in the bush are a sight to see. Roads are cut with chainsaws, a skidder and a front end loader, and a depot is established. An old school bus has become their office. The trees for cutting are marked by Nipissing Forest Resource Management Inc. in Callander, which inspects their work. Some trees are marked as feeding trees, and some as nesting trees, and are left for the use of birds and animals. 

Larry coordinates the activity and loads the picket truck with saleable logs, and hauls them to a location on the main road where trucks from large companies haul them away. An occasional veneer log is always a nice find. Some logs are set aside for Darren’s sawmill for summer cutting. In a recent conversation, Larry indicated that he is currently back cutting in the same locations he cut on twenty years ago. 

The biggest part of the Young operation, is their fuel wood. The family, including Marilyn, have cut thousands of cords of firewood during the past 20 years. The wood is cut in 16-inch lengths and split by hand with an axe. Derek, along with his other duties, regularly splits upwards of thirty cords of wood a day with an axe. 

The wood is put into a front end loader and put in a dump truck, and hauled to their depot on Highway 534. Later, after the ground is dry, it is stacked for drying. 

This prime maple sells itself, and is gone by the end of October to regular customers, including me and several of my neighbors, where it is hauled back to Bear Mountain. 

Darren runs a portable sawmill, doing custom work offsite, or his own cutting for sale at his mill. The family helps him and stacks the firewood nearby, as required. Local people are also hired, and one day when I was there Melvin Grasser was working and noted that he had originally worked for Barney Young 40 years before. 

Derek has a successful masonry business, and Mike is an MNR firefighter. All are college graduates, including daughter Leanne, who studied three years at Canadore, and two years in New Hampshire in restaurant and hotel management, and has a top job in Freemont, Calif., where Larry and Marilyn visit when they can. 

This is the second year the Youngs have been across the road from me and they will be finished soon and moving on to a private contract on private property to finish off the season. 

It is nice to know that the forest has been carefully revitalized by removing selected trees with minimal damage to the environment. My grandchildren will miss the roar and lurch of the skidder, as it hauls several big maples through the bush like some huge carnivore hauling its prey to its lair.