Trees from Greenwood Fire arrive at Hedstrom Lumber Company en route to North House Folk School
They could have gone to rot. Or been devoured by bugs.
Instead, stands of white and red pine that burned in the Greenwood Fire near Isabella in 2021 found their way to Hedstrom Lumber Company near Grand Marais this week. At the mill these somewhat charred logs will be processed into lumber and other materials. And some of the lumber will be used locally at North House Folk School in Grand Marais, according to Chris Hegg, the president of Hedstrom Lumber, who also runs the business’s wood procurement program.
An estimated 150 truck loads of red and white pine will make their way from the site of the Greenwood Fire near Isabella to the Gunflint Trail and the mill in the weeks ahead.
These are among the same trees that WTIP’s Joe Friedrichs visited earlier this winter during a tour of the burn area.
“All of them are coming from right in that area,” Hegg said this week. “The trees you saw standing, about half of them will be up here at Hedstroms.”
Listen to the audio below to hear the full interview.
Joe Friedrichs March 18, 2022
