After CMT, Team Gateway was excited to put their chainsaw training and skills into use. The first project site was Parking Lot B, located near the southern end of the Sandy Hook peninsula. The target plant species was Japanese Black Pine (Pinus thunbergii) which presented itself as a different challenge compared to the trees felled in Washington state. The Japanese black pine trees had a very irregular shape and thick, rough bark and were very sappy. Also its lower branches were so long that they drooped to the ground and were easily mistaken as roots when covered in duff. Therefore the trees took a toll on the old chainsaws. Also there were other challenges such as the small bed of the truck which the team used to collect and haul the chopped branches and trunks to a disposal site. It ended up taking three times as long or more to haul the tree parts than it took to fell and limb the trees. Yet the team persevered and used their resources. They used the new Stihl chainsaws that last year’s team put off from using. Soon Team Gateway was felling and hauling pine trees efficiently like a well-oiled tree felling machine. However the only thing that stopped the team from felling the last pine tree at B Lot was a bird’s nest with four adorable, screaming mockingbird chicks! So the team plans to check on the chicks in several weeks and wait until they have left the nest before felling the last tree.
