Thrill-seekers aren’t the only ones who ride zip lines in the Black Hills. Logs ride them, too. That was the case Thursday, as the high-pitched whine of a motorized pulley-and-cable system overtook the roar of heavy equipment on a rise 400 feet above Dalton Lake. Trees measuring as much as 15 inches in diameter and weighing about 2,500 pounds came zipping up the steep mountainside, attached to the cable.

Soon, the motion reversed and the cable’s empty carriage zoomed back down the slope. A lone worker grabbed a smaller cable hanging from the carriage and hooked it around more felled trees. Over and over, the process repeated.

It’s called skyline logging, and it’s a special technique for harvesting timber in steep areas. Among 28 logging subcontractors who work with Black Hills-area sawmill company Neiman Enterprises, only one, Jeff Gamet Logging, does skyline work.

It’s a more expensive way to harvest timber but Derek Larsen of Neiman Enterprises said skyline logging is good for the long-term productivity of the forest. He said neglecting steeper slopes from logging can leave behind denser tree stands and undergrowth that mountain pine beetles and wildfires thrive on. “With skyline logging, you’re not leaving pockets behind to breed those bug epidemics or large fires,” Larsen said.

The skyline logging above Dalton Lake — in the Nemo area about 25 miles northwest of Rapid City — began last month and will continue for at least a couple of weeks. Logging crews started by cutting down select trees on the slope, with a machine known as a Timbco and also by hand with chainsaws. A Timbco is a track-driven piece of equipment with a cutter arm.

From the Rapid City Journal: http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/logs-ride-zip-line-above-dalton-lake/article_6cd05fc0-ca59-5092-bfc2-9191b4196dce.html