Old Trees/Logs Being Raised in Lake Ontario

[ScoobieDooo]

Anyone have any information or know of any links that have info on the old trees/logs that were submerged in Lake Ontario from years ago that are being raised and regarded as valuable pieces or historical woods?

[sparky30]

I just heard that some guy is salvaging old logs in the Bay of Qunite.. Apparently they broke freee from log booms a hundred years ago and sunk to the bottom.. Rumor has it the guy is making pretty good money because the timbers are well preserved and really big..

[ScoobieDooo]

I heard they are like Black Walnut or something...like maybe 200 years old or so.

???

[Bob3]

I'm not sure if Black Walnut will float if it's green, I know it's pretty iffy with White Oak, some will but a lot sinks right away. They just drop right out of the log booms. The denser hardwoods are the more valuable ones, so stuff laying on the bottom was high nickle to start with.
Lake Superior has a few different submerged log ops going, the state of Michigan sells permits for so many acres of lake bottom & collects a fee on any recovered logs. Northern Wisconsin has a lot of submerged timber too, a lot of that old growth timber that's pretty much been depleted. High quality stuff.
trivia:
The loggers would stamp their initials into the log ends, the mark can be read even if a chunk is cut off. If someone were to cut off both ID stamps the log would be shorter than the required mill minimum. If you find an old log laying on the bottom, check the ends. ;)

[rmediver2002]

Stradivarius is apparently a big customer; their techniques for developing the particular tone within their violins involved submerging the wood to saturation anyway. The age and quality of this old growth wood is apparently superior to anything you could find today…

Jeff Lane

[weight_for_me]

Check out this article about Scuba Logging in the Ottawa Valley.
http://www.pastforward.ca/perspectives/Oct_122001.htm
Randy...

[ScoobieDooo]

Interesting...

[seahunter]

In the mid-60's Skin Diver had numerous articles about this very activity.
I have a small book written about underwater logging from that era which explains the techniques to recover the logs and even how to evaluate them.

However, this is 2003 and you can no longer go out on weekends with your buddy and pull up logs.
You need (you guessed it!) a licence from the government and apparently they aren't given out freely.

The logs can be extremely valuable. I've heard that up to $25,000 per log is not uncommon.

[FredT]

I know a couple of commercial divers making a good living recovering sunken cyperss logs and trees in southern rivers. The dive buddys you get are a bit different down here though. BIG catfish, 'gators and dangerous snakes make this a "not for the squeemish" activity, and of course it's mostly unregulated. (OSHA rules DO apply!)

FT

[Ontario Diver]

you have to have proof of all the fun things that commercial divers have - all the courses - health and safety etc, etc, etc

[Bubble Boy]

Check out this link for more info on logging in Ontario....

http://204.40.253.254/envregistry/008322ep.htm

[fish_bowl]

I have read a few articles on the recovery of logs from rivers and lakes and there is still some concern that removing these logs might harm important fish habitat. It also causes problems with silting and Im not sure but it might cause some of the phosphorous and nitrogen traped in the sediment to be recycled into the water. I haven't gone over these documents in a while so I will see if I can get some more information if anyone is interested.

[Amphibious]

I used to dive the ottawa river near Beachburg a lot in the summer, it's loaded with timber, which is really cool because most of the logs still bear the logging "stamp" on the end denoting try type and date cut.

this being said, the Roche Frendu Rapid section is a DANGEROUS place for untrained, undisiplined divers. I kayaked there for years before ever diving it and many of the logs have a habit of shifting during level changes. BE CAREFUL.

Willer

[Tractor Tom]

...where the folks are mining old trees off the bottom of Lake Superior. My wife bought a wooden box at the gift shop made from scraps of Old Growth Pine, that is as hard and tighter ringed than the red oak growing on my farm right now. Very cool. They pick the logs with a couple lift bags and then float them to a 'holding pen' near the warehouse in town. Then go a pull them out when they have room to put them in the kiln to dry them properly. The one wall of the display area is covered with cut ends with the loggers marks on them. The fellow who owns the company had to get the state to enact new laws to enable him to harvest the timber, but he's doing OK now. The lumber is highly priced and valuable.