Eucalyptus: Koalas Not Included

Neil Melancon, a member of Class XII touring Chile and Argentina, submitted today’s blog post.

Class XII started its touring day Friday, January 27 with a visit to the forestry stands of Forestal Mininco, a division of Empresas CMPC S.A.  With more than 1.2 million acres of timberland across Latin America, it is the second largest such company in South America, with shareholders across the globe.

Two different areas 20 miles from Los Angeles, Chile, were able to show the class almost every aspect of their eucalyptus harvesting operations.  The first site held year-old trees that had already grown six to seven feet.  In all, the varieties of eucalyptus grown here have a 14-year cycle, from seedlings to harvest.  While Monterrey pine still dominates Mininco’s stands, representing more than half the area of planted land in their Chilean territory, the fast-growing Australian tree is more suited to Chile’s export needs.

Vic Blanchard, land and forestry manager for A. Wilbert’s Sons Co., as well as a member of Class XII, said the primary value of eucalyptus came from its cellulosic content advantage.

“They’re getting between 200 and 250 tons per acre of cellulose with eucalyptus,” Blanchard said. “In some stands it’s as high as 350.  Pine in the U.S. gives a return of 90 to 100 green tons per acre and grows on a 15-year cycle.  We’re experimenting with eucalyptus back home, but the climate is better suited for it as well.”

Dennis “Scooty” Aucoin Jr., a pine harvester from Clinton, could find no flaw in the harvesting operations at the second site our class toured Friday.

“Everything I’ve seen is very modern,” Aucoin said.  “They’re using great equipment to cut, haul and chip the trees on-site.  They’re turning trucks around every 30 minutes, so it’s a fast operation.”

After a picnic lunch under the boughs of the mature eucalyptus, Class XII went to the sawmill in Mulchen, which moves 70,000 cubic meters of pine lumber per month.  State-of-the-art equipment sorted, washed and sawed the logs as class members watched.

The tour ended somewhat ironically where life begins for most of the timber seen today–the Carlos Douglas Seedling Nursery in Yumbel.  Class XII not only got to see the various growth stages of eucalyptus and pine seedlings, but each received a gift bag, courtesy of CMPC.

The class evidently got a head full of information during their 12-hour day today, as evidenced by the droopy eyes during the hour-long bus ride back to the hotel. Hey, at least the A/C was working this time.

Mike’s blog returns tomorrow…

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