Lewiston Gazebo Project
There is a new facility for hikers, cyclists and equestrians to enjoy on their treks in the Lewiston area. Lewiston Trails Committee volunteer Jerry Hauke and Trinity County RCD crew spent several days in November on the Lowden Ranch constructing a timber-pole gazebo complete with benches and metal roof. The gazebo, situated near the ranch’s historic apple orchard, was funded by the Trinity Alps Bike Association. Lowden Ranch is public land administered by Bureau of Land Management.
Hauke and TCRCD’s John Condon collaborated on the project that showcases round-wood construction as a productive use of timber too small to be sold to a mill. Developing value-added products from such “sub-merchantable” timber helps reduce cost of doing fuels reduction. Small wood biomass formerly considered valueless, and merely burned or chipped, can instead be sold as material for the production of goods like this gazebo if enough demand is created.
The gazebo was built from a kit designed by Bob Mountjoy and developed by the Watershed Research and Training Center in Hayfork. All wood in the kit was from fuels reduction projects within Trinity County and processed at the Hayfork Small Diameter Sort Yard. It arrived pre-cut and pre-drilled, with metal roofing and basic connectors purchased separately.
TCRCD plans on building other such examples of biomass utilization that incorporate small diameter wood from local forests. Future projects will include a picnic pavilion at Lee Fong Park funded by a grant from the USFS to the Northwest California Resource Conservation & Development Council.
|
