We came, we sawed, we conquered

VIC LEIPZIG AND LOU MURRAY

It seemed like we bolted from summer straight into winter, as a cold

snap nipped on the heels of heavy rain last week. But our premature

winter didn’t last long. Sunny skies whipped by hot Santa Ana winds

ushered in this week. But this isn’t a story about weather. It’s a

tale of chainsaws, replete with danger.

All that rain followed by wind spelled trouble for the mature

trees at Shipley Nature Center. As most of you probably know by now,

I coordinate restoration of the nature center while Vic explains the

nuances of biology to college students. He gets to lecture indoors in

air-conditioned or heated comfort, while I hoe weeds in the baking

sun of summer, or plant shrubs in the cold wet mud of winter.

Actually, Vic is really envious.

The trees at Shipley are old. Every few weeks, I find another one

toppled onto the trails. Why those trees don’t have the common

decency to fall into the woods is beyond comprehension. It’s like the

trails at the nature center have a specific gravitational pull on

trees. Up comes the wind and down comes a tree, right smack in the

middle of the trail. Since the city turned management over to the

Friends of Shipley Nature Center in 2002, it is our group’s

responsibility to deal with these toppled trees.

Last summer, we had an Orange County Conservation Corps work crew

at the center. A downed tree was no problem, because the kids were

chainsaw certified. We were left in a lurch when we ran out of money

for the Corps kids, but fortunately Fritz Koepp, a retired forester,

stepped into the breach. When a tree came down, we called Fritz. He

showed up in a full protective suit of blaze-orange Kevlar, yanked

the cord on his chainsaw to bring it to life, and made short work of

the downed trees. But alas, Fritz was called back into full time

service to deal with burned forests in the Southland.

Our fallback plan was to call Dave Pryor, a biologist with State

Parks and Recreation. Dave rents a chainsaw and helps out when he

can. But with Fritz working full time, there was no backup for Dave.

For safety sake, it’s important to have someone else present. Shipley

needed another chainsaw person. Also, because rental was getting

expensive, the Friends decided to buy their own chainsaw and train

someone to use it. You see where this is going, don’t you?

The storm last week brought down not one, but four old willows.

Naturally, they fell right onto the trail. Someone had to do

something and Fritz wasn’t available. Into the breach stepped

Chainsaw Granny. I could hardly wait to get my hands on that saw. Vic

was more worried that I’d get my hands into the saw. He started

calling me Stumpy. He couldn’t do much to protect my fingers and

toes, but he did buy me a hardhat, bless his heart. How many husbands

are that thoughtful?

Dave volunteered to teach me some safety tips. I suited up in some

Kevlar chaps, donned earplugs and hardhat, picked up the saw and

instantly wondered what the hell I was doing. That thing was heavy.

It was probably the most dangerous thing I’ve ever had in my hands,

and I’ve shot fully automatic assault rifles with the HBPD SWAT team.

Dave showed me how to brace the chainsaw on my hip to keep from

straining my back. Stance is important, he said. He showed me how to

hold the saw to keep from whacking off my leg, my foot, my head, or

my shoulder. Oh my, I had no idea there were so many ways for things

to go wrong while sawing.

Some of the trees had snapped in two, with only part of the tree

leaning over the path. Those trees would need to be felled, and that

was a skill beyond me. We discussed every cut, estimating weight,

center of gravity, and fall trajectory, looking to see if the tree to

be felled was supporting another tree that would also fall once its

support was removed. Fortunately, with Dave on the saw, every fall

went as planned. Then I set to work trimming off branches and cutting

up the trunks into logs to use as trail edging. This is called

“bucking up the tree.”

In all honesty, I worked with the saw for only about half an hour,

while Dave and his son cut for three hours. The rest of the time, I

worked as a sawyer’s assistant, pulling the branches out of the way

and piling them into stacks. The lizards, squirrels, bunnies, and

sparrows will love those new brush piles.

The main thing that I learned is that using a chainsaw isn’t as

easy as it looks. My back is still sore, my left arm aches from

yanking on the starter cord, and my legs feel like rubber. But it was

the most fun I’ve had in months.

It’s going to be a long, wet winter, and we can expect a lot more

trees to come down. Vic wants to use the chainsaw next time. So does

Shirley Dettloff. And so do a lot of other Friends of Shipley Nature

Center. I think I’m going to have a lot of help the next time a tree

comes down.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at vicleipzig@aol.com.