Things should be getting busier on the Lake Railway shortly as Collins (the people that own the mill) are just starting to salvage 23,000 acres of their timberland that just burned in August. There are still old stumps burning as they start salvaging. There will be enormous amounts of logs that will be stacked up around the mill by the end of winter. All of these logs will need to be processed quickly as time is of the essence when dealing with salvaged timber. This should translate to more center beams and chip cars as they ramp up production.

The Barry Point fire was almost 94,000 acres with most of it on the Forest Service. Sadly little if any of the Forest Service timber will be salvaged. It is really a shame and exemplifies the differences between private industry and the government. With the flames still burning, the private land is being salvaged, with plans being made to replant the area and grow a new forest, and the Forest Service land just sits sits with trees beginning to dry out and loose value. It will only be a few months before the timber will be so degraded to make its value uneconomical to salvage. In an area where unemployment is high and mills struggle for logs, it is a travesty to let this resource go to waste.