The Scribe in the Woods

• Published in: Fourth genre Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 9 - 23
• Main Author: Dodd, Elizabeth
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: East Lansing Michigan State University Press 01.04.2006
• Subjects: 2005 Editors' Prize Runner-Up; Coal; Coal mining; Environmental impact; Forest service; Forests; Inlets; Old growth forests; Plant roots; Street trees; Timber; Timber industry; Tree trunks; Trees; Visual fixation
• ISSN: 1522-3868; 1544-1733; 1544-1733
• DOI: 10.1353/fge.2006.0008

"Logging and milling will continue for 252 days a year. 7 ? million bd. ft. will be cut per year and it is planned to cut the entire stand in 8 years," the appraisal declares, calling for 30 men to work ten-hour days. "This is one of the last remnants of virgin hardwoods in Western North Carolina, and it is hoped that it may be spared from the havoc of destructive lumbering by government acquisition." Immediately the document moves on to itemize production costs: wages for the men to fell the trees, $2.50/day; feed costs for the oxen teams ($600/year); railroad costs for removal of logs to the mill, including one ton of coal per day at $500, along with 75 cents' worth of oil and grease; labor at the mill yard, ranging from $6 per day for the foremen to $2 per day for the oiler, the night watchman, the trimmerman, the utility man, and a few others.