Original subtitles

[narrator] Welcome on this episode of Tomorrow's World Today.

We visit the world of production

to learn how one company is helping to salvage trees after wildfires.

And how forestry management helps keep our forests healthy.

From Invention land world headquarters,

here's our host, George Davison.

I love hearing about how companies got their names.

You know, some businesses are named after their founders.

And sometimes, they're named after a place.

But no matter what, there's always thought behind it

and always a good story to tell.

Even an ugly dog like the one in this picture

could be the inspiration for a company's name.

In the 1960s, Einar Vidgrén,

developed a load carrying forest tractor

in a local village workshop.

The machine was made entirely out of recycled parts

and to put it mildly, well, it wasn't the most attractive

piece of machinery that village had ever seen

but, boy, did it work.

And it reminded him of his trusty hunting dog, Ponsse.

Now, this is the very first

drawing of a Ponsse machine.

You see, Ponsse's fur, it was grey and dirty.

The dog just... wasn't all that good looking.

But it was reliable,

and it never came back from a hunting trip empty-handed

So it only made sense to Einari, that he name his trusty

but ugly machine,

after his trusty but ugly dog.

And that's how Ponsse was born.

Ponsse has gone on to become one of the largest

most reliable forest machinery vehicle manufacturers

in the world.

And it's the reliability of their harvester

and their forester

that help to process trees after the 2020 wild fires out in Oregon.

Now, let's go join David, who's out in Oregon

right now, to learn more about this operation.

[David] I'm in Eugene, Oregon, at the site

where the wild fires began last year.

This fire lasted for weeks.

But the biggest loss, in a short amount of time

was when 1.2 million acres burned

in just 72 hours.

And as you can see, I'm surrounded by burnt trees.

Most people would see the remnants of the fire and think...

"This wood is ruined" But that's where they would be wrong.

After a wild fire, a massive cleanup has to take place.

Post-fire salvage not only let's us collect and use wood that was burned

but also helps lower the risk of an accidental fire

happening in the area again.

Converting dead trees into products

Can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air.

Which in turn, can help with climate change.

Ponsse is working here to reclaim the wood that was burned

when the fires happened in the summer of 2020.

They don't have a lot of time, just six months

to process as much wood as they can before it's no longer usable.

I'm meeting Pekka Ruuskanen, President and CEO of Ponsse, North America,

to learn more about the process.

You must be Pekka.

- Oh, Hi David. - Hi, Pekka, you're a man of your word

you said you'd be here and here you are.

Well, I'm always here I was born in the woods.

Heh, I tell you, it's good see you

and I'm glad we could have this conversation.

It was devastating to hear about the 4,000 homes that were destroyed.

And then I get here and I see these trees

and I don't know how any of this is salvageable.

So how does something that has been burned get used again?

Would you like to see them in action?

- I would absolutely love to see them in action. - Let's go and look.

Hey, David, this is Matthew. He's gonna take care of you.

I have to go and take care of some other business but see you guys later.

- See ya. - See ya, Pekka.

- Matt, it's great to meet you. - Nice to meet you, David.

So I'm really excited to learn all I can about these amazing machines you have

and my guess is, this is the harvester.

You are correct. As a matter of fact, this is a Ponsse Ergo.

This machine has 32 feet of reach from the center line of the machine,

where then it takes this harvesting head

wraps it around the tree, a saw bar comes out underneath,

cuts the tree down, then these 3 feed wheels,

pull the tree through the harvesting head where these knives

then take the limbs off the tree,

this wheel in the center measures the length and then a saw bar

comes out again and bucks the tree into logs.

Okay, and now, per tree, how many lengths are you looking for?

It depends on the job.

But overall we're trying to maximize the total value out of the tree.

But this machine also works with another machine called a Forwarder.

Let's go take a look.

[Matthew] And this is the other half of that team. This is the Forwarder.

Wow! These tracks are massive, what's going on with them?

[Matthew] These tracks are a traction aide, they help the machine disperse it's weight

and protect the soil and climb the hill.

When we have extreme slopes we use this traction aide wench underneath as well,

we tie it off to a stump and it helps the machine get to the road.

- I have some operators, let's go see this machine in action. - All right, let's go.

[narrator] There are so many benefits to post-fire salvage

when it comes to keeping our forests healthy.

Not only does it support local timber industries,

but also promotes future forest development

and reduces the chances of fires happening again.

[Matthew] So now we're out on a harvest unit.

Kyle, our harvester operator has set up his machine.

He has his wench strapped off on a stump

and the cable's tight and he's preparing to start opening up a new corridor.

And what this means is, he's gonna go down,

and reach out 32 feet either side of his machine,

cut trees, process them and lay the logs out to the side.

And after he's done with that corridor, then the other machine,

the Forwarder will come by and pick up the logs.

But this is first phase in a multi-step process.

I've noticed a lot of the trees have green tops still so,

how do you know which ones you have to process

and which ones you just leave alone?

[Matthew] Excellent question. In this situation, it's a salvage operation,

most of these trees are already dead and don't know it

or there's a few that might be okay

but they're probably gonna either blow over or die shortly so...

we're taking all the trees in this situation

and then it'll be reforested.

How about we give Kyle a green light, let him go?

- Sounds great to me. - Okay.

Kyle, let go.

[water splashing]

[truck idling]

[water splashing]

[upbeat music playing]

[David] So, Matt, I see this teamwork we were talking about earlier taking place.

Could you tell me exactly what's gonna happen during this dance.

So what's gonna happen here is Kyle is opening up this new corridor,

cutting his way down the hill.

In the meantime, Chewy on the next corridor

is picking up the logs that Kyle had previously cut, putting them in his bunk,

so when he gets it up the hill and he's got all the logs picked up

he'll unhook his cable, drive to the roadside,

unload the logs, make a nice clean pile in preparation for the log truck.

[truck idling]

So, David, we've seen what the machines have done to salvage

as much of the burned timber as possible.

These logs are ready to go to the town, to the sawmill,

to be turned into two-by-fours or two-by-sixes and, eventually, people's homes.

But let me show you what's next in this regenerative process.

- I look forward to it, I'll follow you. - Let's check it out.

[narrator] After a forest fire, there is a short window of time

to collect burnt trees and use them for lumber.

Now that all the wood is collected, it heads over to a mill.

Believe it or not, sawmills actually operate

the same way they have for hundreds of years.

The process may not have changed much,

but the efficiency of milling definitely has.

First, wood has to be debarked.

The bark can be saved, or can be sold as mulch

or even used to fuel the kilns at a sawmill.

Next, each log will go through metal detection.

Making sure they get rid of things like nails, fencing,

Or other metals that could be in the logs.

After that, you really start to see the technological advancements

that have happened in the milling industry.

Lasers can help maximize the amount of lumber from every log.

So there are no unnecessary cuts being made.

The log is cut into the appropriate sizes

and then it is graded and dried.

Either with a kiln, or good old fashioned air drying.

Finally, once it's dry, it's ready to be sold.

[David] So, Matt, what are we looking at here?

[Matthew] What we're looking at is a Ponsse Elephant King

with a water tank which makes it into an initial attack super scheduling.

Machines like this are absolutely valuable in fighting wildfire.

Initial attack is a great opportunity where we can knock down the flames

and help prevent the fire from becoming catastrophic.

[David] How much water can that carry and how long will that last?

2,600 gallons of water, but that machine can pump that out in ten minutes.

[David] So what's the process to kind of, keep that in action.

How do you refill it, keep it going, while fighting a fire?

[Matthew] Good question. So the machine has a couple of ways to do this.

We can either fill it up off another machine,

or it has an internal pump that can be placed

in a water source and it can suck the water up and put it in its tank.

What do you say we turn around and watch it in action?

All right.

[water splashing]

[narrator] We've seen what happens to wood once it's been cleared

But we're not done yet.

Let's head back to the clearing

to see the next steps for the forest.

[Matthew] So, David, now we're walking through the area,

that's been harvested, and just in the past few days

this area was planted with,

that 9-month-old Douglas Fir seedlings.

So I've read that it takes 35 years for a forest to truly regenerate.

What can we do in the future to prevent a forest fire like this from happening again?

[Matthew] Active forest management.

Letting foresters work with the land to control the vegetation

to prevent catastrophic wildfires.

Now, I've also noticed down here there's a tree line

and there's a lot of green strings around those trees.

What makes those trees special?

[Matthew] Those trees there are for a very specific purpose.

And that is, to help protect that stream.

Even when the fire came through here,

those trees are gonna fall in the stream and become habitat for fish.

Because we want to re-establish wildlife and fish populations

back into this area that is burnt.

[Matthew] But let's go take a look

at what this is gonna look like in the future.

I do not know where we're at Matt.

I can't see the forest for the trees, nor could Bigfoot.

What I will say, it's dark in here and dense.

[Matthew] It is. And that's because this is 27 year old

untinned Douglas Fir Forest.

- But let me show you what active management looks like. - Sounds great.

[footsteps approaching]

[Matthew] Here we are in a thinned 27-year-old Douglas Fir Forest.

We thinned this forest last fall, removed half the trees.

They went to town to become forest products where we sequestered the carbon,

reduced our fire hazard and improved wildlife habitat. I call that a win.

-Hey, that sounds great. Let's go find Bigfoot. -Okay.

[blows]

Wow, Matt. You have a slice of heaven out here.

Yes we do. This is my office.

Across the landscape here we have a mosaic of ages.

The far hill over there, is about 70-year-old Douglas Fir.

Right in the middle, is a 30-year-old Douglas Fir

stand that we thinned 2 years ago.

And we're currently standing in a 6-year-old Douglas Fir forest.

How about we take a look at some of these ages?

- I was thinking the same thing. - Great.

[Matthew] So what we're looking at here is a 6-year-old Douglas Fir.

[David] Okay, so, I see a Christmas Tree. How do you know this is 6 years old?

I start at the top, I look at the leader which is the top part of the tree

and the first cluster of branches is called the whirl and I count down,

One, two, three, four, five, six.

Six years in the field, maybe a year or two in the nursery,

so foresters count it from the time it's planted in the field, so 6-year-old tree.

How about we go look at another age class?

- You lead the way. - Okay.

[birds chirping]

[footsteps approaching]

So here, David, now we're looking at trees that are roughly twice the age

and twice the size of the ones we just look at. These trees are in their teens.

And now entering a rapid growth phase in their life cycle

and are sequestering lots of carbon and converting it to woody material.

I love the science going on. What do you say we go find some 20 somethings.

- Let's do it, heh. - All right.

[footsteps]

So now, we're walking through a stand that's roughly 20 years old.

[David] Why are these limbs missing needles?

[Matthew] Well, what we've reached is a point at which

the trees are big enough for the crowns are closing

and the limbs below are staring to lose their needles and die off.

We are rapidly approaching a point at which we need to perform some active management

- Would you like to go look at that site? - You lead the way.

[footsteps approaching]

[David] Yeah, okay, Matt. Now I get it.

Now I understand the cycle you're speaking of.

I've seen them from saplings, now they reach all the way to the sky.

It's beautiful, isn't it? First we planted them, then we thinned them.

In the process we sequestered carbon, improved wildlife habitat,

- it's a beautiful thing. - It is a beautiful thing.

Now the next thing that I think we need to do

is get you on a plane to Pittsburg to meet with George at Invention land.

He'd love to learn more about this life cycle that you're speaking of

and I think you should bring something for him

because he'd love to put that in his museum.

- [Matthew] I'd love to. - [David] Great.

- Hey, Matt. - Hi, George.

- What's this? - It's an Ore' Spruce, a gift for you.

Thank you very much, Matt. I know exactly what I'll do with this.

I'm gonna wrap a story around it, put it outside Invention land

and we'll talking to kids about it, the future of forestry.

- That's great. - Super.

So how did David do out there in Oregon when he went out to see you?

David did fantastic. We had a great opportunity taking David

to the forest where he saw the devastation from last year's wild fires.

And he saw what we're doing in conjunction with the Ponsse machines,

to harvest that wood before it goes bad,

and then heal the land before replanting it.

Well, he also sent me this image I was hoping you could

help me to understand this a little more.

Could you go through the process of what I'm looking at here.

So what we're looking at here is a diagram of the forestry life cycle.

It starts out with the planting of the trees

then the trees grow and then at some point in time

foresters actively manage the forest and re-engage

which will remove some trees, make the forest healthy

because our end result is we're trying to target growing a big healthy forest.

At some point in time, that forest will be harvested,

those products will go to town to benefit society

and the cycle will start all over again.

Very nice. You know, it kind of reminds me of a farmer, you know,

they clear their field, they plant seed and then they put their crops in,

they harvest them, then they start all over the next year.

They do. Foresters do the same just on a much longer time horizon.

Speaking of the horizon, what's on the horizon?

What's the future look like for forest management?

Forest management has a bright future,

it's gonna involve a few things

One will be active management, the stage we talked about here

where foresters are actively managing the forest

to help prevent catastrophic wildfires.

And then utilizing data and technologies

to make decisions about what we do in the forest.

And we're gonna use connectivity with the machines

- and with foresters in the field to make smart decisions. - Interesting.

So does the connectivity go all the way to the end user

so if we were to know what the end users' needs were,

can those needs be sent out to a forester

and then you're actually harvesting, uh, logs to that need?

Exactly. So what's gonna happen in the future

is when somebody places an order to build a house

and they need a certain amount of a certain sizes of lumber

that information will be transmitted to the machines

which will be doing the harvesting,

to cut and process logs

into the exact lengths needed to build that house.

Well, that's exciting.

So, this process actually looks like

we're gonna have less forest fires in the future I hope.

- We should. - All right, well, you know what I'm gonna do?

I'm gonna go plant a tree, you've inspired me today, Matt.

Well, thanks George. I gotta get back and check on the guys in Oregon

-So I'll see you later -Safe travels.

Thanks.

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] To learn more about the content in today's episode,

visit us online at www.tomorrowsworldtoday.com

or find us on social, @twtexplore.