A Short History of Helicopter Logging

The practice of helicopter logging is still employed in parts of the world today, including the US and Canada. Often the USFS will use it to thin forest lands in...

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For Busted Up Loggers: The Deming Log Show

A bond exists in the lumberjack community, a shared brotherhood of the saw. It comes from the long, hard hours spent in the forest, far from crowded cities and civilization....

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Logger Dennis Cronin’s Unexpected Legacy

In 2011, logger Dennis Cronin was flagging cutblock 7190 near Port Renfrew, British Columbia for clear-cutting when a massive tree stopped him in his tracks.

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Paul Bunyan: Larger Than Life

With his trademark flannel shirt, double-bladed axe, and giant blue ox, Paul Bunyan left an indelible mark on the American consciousness. Though he may have been based in part on...

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New York's Largest Chainsaw Collection: Hud-son Chainsaw Museum

An early morning fog rolls through the town of Barneveld just outside the Adirondacks in New York as a worker flips on the showroom lights at Hud-Son Forest Equipment. As...

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How To's

Filson Fundamentals: Field Chainsaw Maintenance

Whether felling, bucking and limbing, or cutting up logs for firewood, it doesn't take long to burn through a tank of fuel when running a saw at full throttle. A...

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The Lifecycle of Timber

The lifecycle of logging is both simple and complex. It’s a carefully balanced relationship between man and nature that allows for the production of everything from homes to solvents and...

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The Brothers Nielsen

For as long as either David or Robert Nielsen can remember, trees have surrounded them. In their youth, they romped among the towering white oaks, western hemlocks, and grand firs...

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Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods

At the turn of the last century, forester William T. Cox began documenting the strange stories he heard in logging camps—stories about mythical creatures like the Hodag, Gumberoo, and Agropelter....

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Sustainable Logging For Healthy Forests

Over the last five decades, the logging industry in the united states has evolved considerably, and that is a good thing. Nowadays, when you hear a chainsaw roar to life...

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Lost Language of American Loggers

Fill a forest with five-hundred-year-old trees, up to a few hundred feet tall. Season it with native Americans, native-born pioneers, and immigrants from every corner of the Atlantic and Pacific....

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Maxville: The Town of Oregon’s African American Loggers

Nestled in the dense forests of Northeast Oregon stood Maxville, a former logging town that granted residence to African American loggers during the state’s exclusionary period, which saw Black people...

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How To's

How to Build a Backyard Sawmill

My family comes from a proud tradition of loggers and woodworkers. My great-grandfather left his home in Norway and emigrated to Washington to work as a logger. My grandfather followed...

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A Brief History of Horse Logging

Horse logging is an echo of an earlier, distant time but it is gaining steam as a modern, sustainable form of logging. This practice goes back nearly 10,000 years, though...

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If They Ain't Wavin'

“There are those who love to get dirty and fix things. They drink coffee at dawn, beer after work. And those who stay clean, just appreciate things. At breakfast they...

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Unfailing Dads: R. Paul Hanson

Father’s Day is today and at Filson many of our employees wouldn’t be the outdoors enthusiasts they’ve become without the guidance of their Dad. Our fathers have endured many early...

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Trade Stories: Andy Gregory of NW Axe Co.

The history of the axe in America is ubiquitous. Trees as tall as Bunyan were felled with these sharpened glints of steel. Cities and towns across the nation were born...

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