Waseca County Facilities Supervisor Teddy Hoehn next to a fallen tree in Waseca County's Courthouse Park. Logs from downed trees are being made available to county residents who can make use of them. Pioneer photo by Deb Bently
County offers downed trees for those who burn wood
Wed, 10/23/2024 - 8:02pm
Waseca County residents who burn wood may want to look into the chance to acquire a free trailer load of logs being given away at Courthouse Park on Thursday, Nov. 7.
County facilities supervisor Teddy Hoehn explains a massive collection of logs between 5 and nearly 20 feet long will be given away to county residents who make an appointment in advance, bring a suitable trailer, and sign a waiver releasing the county from liability. Hoehn and two other county employees will be there that day with equipment capable of loading the trailers.
The logs come from a variety of types of trees: all are deadwood removed from the forested areas of Courthouse Park. Thinking of a trailer about 20 feet long, Hoehn estimates there are at least 20 loads of logs available for those willing to come get them.
“We’ve had an unusual number of trees just fall down this year,” he explains. “We’ve removed the branches and run them through the chipper, but kept the larger diameter wood in logs.”
In speaking with other park supervisors and agencies, Hoehn explains the unusual number of downed trees is likely due to last year’s drought having been followed by this June’s wet conditions.
“They believe the root systems lost some of their reach in the dry weather. Then, when the ground became so wet, they no longer had enough of a system to hold.” Many of the trees fell during storms, Hoehn says, but many also seem to have fallen spontaneously.
Though all the available logs were collected this year, some had already been down for a while, so the wood will be dry to various degrees. None of the wood is soft or rotted.
“This is the first time we’ve done a give-away like this,” Hoehn says. “So we’ll be figuring out some of the procedures bit by bit.
“We think this is a good system, though, since it removes the unwanted wood from the park and also serves as a benefit to those who can make good use of it.”
Any county resident interested in making an appointment to pick up wood on Nov. 7 should start with contacting Hoehn by the deadline at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 31. His office phone is 507-835-0525; email: teddy.hoehn@wasecacounty.gov.