Pike Lumber Blog

The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the largest, loudest, and most recognizable woodpeckers in North America.  Similar in size to the Common Crow, the Pileated was made famous, in part by the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker.  Prior to 1900 the Pileated was considered rare, but in recent years populations have shown strong increases across its range of Canada and the United States.

The mature forests of the Midwest provide excellent habitat for the Pileated Woodpecker.  These trees provide nesting posts along with an important food source, the carpenter ant.  Large, rectangular holes are carved into the trunks by these hard headed birds often times causing small trees to snap off.  The thunderous drumming sometimes heard echoing through the forest is the Pileated’s way of marking its territory.

These unique birds are non-migratory and do remain in their territories all year-round so look for and enjoy the sights and sounds of what Mother Nature and your forest resource has to offer.

By Ann Allen

The Baker-Solano Forest, located on a 240-acre tract in Seward Township, Kosciusko County, received the coveted 2011 Charles Deam Forestry Stewardship Award during the Indiana Forestry and Woodland Owners Association’s November 4-5 conference in Jasper.

It’s a forest of many names. Owners Dean and Suzie Baker, Akron, operating as Baker Forest Company, refer to it as Silver Creek Forest, but, because their children are heavily invested in maintaining it, the award specified it as the Baker-Solano Forest

“All but eight of the 240 acres is forestland,” Dean Baker said.  Those eight acres are filled with wildlife and prairie grass plantings.”

The Bakers and their children, Chris and Darleen Baker, and Sarah and Rich Solano, worked together to create 90 acres of afforestation—converting highly erodible crop fields into sustainable forestland.

“We’ve been working on the forest consistently for 27 years,” Baker said.  Past president of Pike Lumber Company, a firm operating sawmills in Akron, Carbon and Milan, he stressed that the award-winning forest is family-operated and not part of Pike’s holdings.

“Sarah controls invasive species, such as garlic mustard,” he said. “Chris manages the logging operation when we make selective harvests. Rich and his boys (Dan, Adam and Tom) cut firewood from the tops and sell it.”

The fact that it is a family-owned forest prompted Pat Walker, an industry forester and wildlife biologist, to nominate it for the Deam Award, named in honor of Indiana’s first state forester. According to contest rules, the award is given to the forest landowner carrying out the best forest stewardship program within that ownership. The owner must have 10 acres or more of woodland property within the state of Indiana and have owned it for no less than one full year. In addition, the owner must have a written forest management plan that has been approved by a professional forester.

“The Bakers’ practices show environmental consciousness,” Walker said. “They have a great history of planting and selective harvesting. They have created a forest that will continue to produce for future generations.”

“Silver Creek Forest is considered a ‘working forest,’ Walker noted on the nomination form. “The woodland’s management objectives include financial, wildlife, timber, recreation and legacy. It’s a professional operation that has employed timber stand improvement practices along with erosion control and woodland management leadership.”

On the weekend of April 8, Purdue University hosted the 59^th Annual Midwestern Foresters Conclave. This is an annual event where college students throughout the Midwest gather together to compete in physical and mental Forestry events such as speed chopping, crosscut saw, tree identification and many others.

The students that competed in this day–long event are definitely the rugged, gritty, outdoors types. On Saturday morning, the weather was a chilly 40 degrees that quickly changed to rain. Later in the afternoon, the sun came out and warmed up to 80 degrees and all attending ended up sunburned.

Pike Lumber Company was a major sponsor for the event. There were a total of 18 Pike employees and family members working the event in different capacities. Roughly 225 hungry people were served a hearty lunch of beef stew, biscuits and cobbler that was cooked over open fires with cast iron kettles by Pike.

The majority of all the event judges and timers were also staffed by Pike Foresters. School bias was avoided due to the fact that Pike Foresters represent 7 different schools. Between events, our veterans mixed and mingled with the students in hopes of finding the next high quality forester to join our ranks. As our company grows, we are always on the look out for new quality recruits.

In an unforeseen upset, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point won the overall combined event in a land slide, knocking off the reigning 16-year champs, Southern Illinois University.