Log jam nearly removed

By APRIL KELLEY

Gary Jensen attended the regular Humboldt County Conservation Board meeting on Wednesday, May 21 at 5 p.m. to report on his progress on removing the logs behind the Rutland Dam.

While the Rutland Dam had been purchased by the City of Rutland, the log jam remained under the purview of the Conservation Board. Humboldt County Conservation had applied for FEMA funding to remove the log jam after last year's flooding and are therefore still responsible for the work until it is cleared up. Future issues with logs behind the dam will then fall to Rutland.

Jensen told the Board members that he had purchased several large, heavy-duty hooks that they are using to attach to the trees to pull them free of the jam and bring them to shore.

Several boats go out to the trees and attach the hooks which is attached to an excavator on the shore. The excavator then pulls the cable backward, freeing the logs from the pile and dragging it to shore where it is taken out of the water and piled to be burned later.

“It's going great but it's really slow. We are about halfway through,” Jensen said.

When the logs dry out, the farmer who owns the property they are piling the trees on has given them permission to burn them. They have also requested permission from the county for a special burn permit as the pile will be quite large.

“We talk about beavers building a dam, the river will do just as good of job as the beavers. They just get twisted and tangled in there,” Jensen said.

Read the full story in this week's issue of the Humboldt Independent!

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