After a major ice storm, tornado or serious straight-line winds, the need for trees to be removed from roads and sometimes homes can far outstrip the capacity of local tree cutting services. In situations like that, it can be very helpful to have government employees and citizen volunteers trained in how to use chainsaws safely.
Eureka Springs Parks & Recreation Director Justin Huss cut firewood and used a chainsaw for landscaping when he was in school. When he first started working at Village Creek State Park, one of his duties was to keep 36 miles of trail clear.
“They gave me two chainsaws and sent me off in my shorts,” Huss said. “I never wore chainsaw chaps. I was in the park’s superintendent trainee program and took every training they offered, and ended up in a chainsaw trainer course. Honestly, it scared me to death when I realized what kind of risks I had been taking.”
Huss then started helping out teaching the classes. Over time, they developed their own classes and curriculum using industry best practices from manufacturers. They came up with solid 2.5-day class. In addition to classroom instruction, they would take people out in the field to teach them how to do tree felling safely and effectively.
Huss did these trainings for six-and-a-half years for Arkansas State Parks, and there haven’t been any injuries in the state park system since they started. People come out feeling more confident and competent.
Huss has taught a similar class once a year the past three years since he has been in Eureka Springs. The class has been modified slightly to two days. There is a charge for the class when it is given to outsiders, like the ten members of Rogue Trails, a trail building company, who took a recent course. Three parks employees and one fire department employee also took the recent class.
“And we didn’t have to pay for them to go somewhere else to take the class,” he said. “Two days is a long time to have someone off the job site. We want to make it as short as we can and still convey the message effectively.”
One of the biggest mistakes is not wearing the proper protective equipment. That equipment does you no good if it is left in the truck. Maybe you are only planning to cut one limb, so you don’t put on protection like chainsaw chaps, helmets, eye protection and ear protection.
“Like driving, most of accidents happen when you are in a hurry,” Huss said. “Unfortunately, there are few small chainsaw accidents. It is a deadly, dangerous piece of equipment we need to be respectful of. We rely so heavily on volunteers, and have for many years. Now we are not allowing employees or volunteers to saw in the parks before they have this course.”
One of the most important safety considerations is knowing when something is beyond your capability. Knowing when not to cut is as important as to know when to cut.
“If you are not comfortable, don’t do it,” Huss said. “That goes for homeowners, too.”
It would be helpful to have a number of people in the area trained in how to use chainsaws safely in case of a natural disaster.
“We can help out in emergency situations and those are dangerous times,” Huss said. “Often you are out there working in not great conditions. We hope to coordinate more with public works and the fire department. We are looking to get more of fire department members through the program because they often have to use saws. We would like to see more volunteers go through the class. We are looking to provide some training for local clubs and people who are involved in donating work for us. We may balance that with allowing other people in for a small fee. We plan to do this at least annually. It is a good skill to keep people safe.”
It helps that parks has its employees all trained because now they have a crew to help with projects like glade restoration and tree removal at Lake Leatherwood.
“It saves us some money for those types of projects,” he said. “It is a similar thing with controlled burns and forest management. If we handle these things in house, it can save us some money and help on the management side, as well.”
Right before the most recent class, there were straight-line winds that took down the Lake Leatherwood marina building. It helped that Parks had a trained crew to assist with that.
Felling a tree sounds more dangerous than cutting up one that has fallen across a trail. But Huss said “surprising and exciting things” can happen even when cutting a tree that has already fallen. After a tornado, trees can be twisted one way and then the other. You might not know what you are getting into when you start cutting it up.
“Trees can do really weird things, especially in a situation like a tornado,” Huss said.
He is also big on other types of safety training including how to deal with bug bites, heat exhaustion, cold temperatures and using fire extinguishers.
“One thing I took away from Arkansas State Parks is we did a lot of training, and that training pays off,” Huss said. “We have to give our staff tools to be effective. All these little training sessions make a big difference and help us continue on our track of being a fully professional agency.”