Logging company owner/subject Jared Douglas talks to The Inside Reel about filming, logistics, geography and stakes in regards to the first season of his new Discovery reality show: “The Last Woodsmen.”
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00:00The Last Woodsman, The Danger, begins Friday, November 15th on Discovery and Discovery+.
00:19With something like this kind of show, it's life and death, but it's also very much family
00:26versus business, but they all come together. Could you talk about the decision to let the
00:32cameras come in and see this? It's always a tricky thing, but it's always, I think,
00:37important to show this view of life. Can you talk about that from your perspective?
00:41Yeah, for sure. We got a super good crew of camera guys. It was really challenging just
00:48to let people that aren't in the industry in and showcasing what we do and trying to
00:57keep everybody safe while doing it. So definitely a challenge, but as Discovery Channel does,
01:04they do everything well, they do everything great, and they sent me a great team to show
01:09the world this unique business that we do. So I'm excited.
01:13Locate Ford. You got her coming out.
01:17Deep in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest, Jared Douglas navigates his float camp to
01:23its remote logging outpost.
01:25Feels like we're getting out of that wind a little better now.
01:27Yeah, we're good for now.
01:29For the next three months, he and his crew will be off the grid and on the hunt for some
01:34of the most valuable timber on earth.
01:39It's going to come in hard, boys.
01:43Nice and gentle, nice and gentle. Not gentle.
01:47Our biggest asset is our floating camp. We can move it from job to job, drop our anchors,
01:53get to work.
01:54Straight back, Len.
01:57I always like to be present when camp's being moved. Somebody doesn't know there's a rock
02:01protruding from the ocean floor somewhere. That barge camp would be peeled open like
02:05a tin can and sink.
02:07But the logistics, just from the wood point of view, getting to these places, you know,
02:12the aspect of the floating barge, the hotel, all these kinds of things, but also bringing
02:18in this equipment.
02:19I mean, even in the first episode or two, just seeing what needs to be moved in order
02:25for these things to work.
02:26Can you talk about looking at logistics, but counting on the team to fulfill your vision
02:32of what you need?
02:35Yeah, our logistics is a logistical nightmare on the best of days.
02:39So we definitely struggle with that.
02:42Just getting the equipment to the sites to work is a challenge in itself.
02:46You could almost have a show just on that, let alone all the other business that we do
02:51day to day.
02:53I definitely like to be there on the moves because that's usually where a lot of things
02:56go wrong.
02:57I spent all weekend doing it.
02:59So it's just a way of life.
03:02It's very exciting and we do things big here.
03:06It's big wood, big equipment and a crew with a bunch of big hearts.
03:10So I'm excited to show the world that.
03:12Like a glove.
03:13Nicely done.
03:14Touchdown.
03:16Put a couple of ropes on her and we'll be good to go.
03:19Ross is my right hand man and he's full speed, out of lead, getting done.
03:24And he's in charge of float camp.
03:25You on this one, Ross?
03:26Yeah, you bet.
03:27I think I got to get Danny to get the barge a little pull back.
03:30Okay, I'll go grab Hoppy.
03:32A float camp is a floating hotel.
03:3555 rooms, two story.
03:38Has a rec room, weight room, big cook house.
03:41Roast beast.
03:43And I love it.
03:44You wake up and you're at work.
03:4720 feet to go boys.
03:48Hey Ryan, you want to say about that winch?
03:51I can lose everything.
03:52You know, it's a short fall from the penthouse to the outhouse in this business.
03:56You know, when it's scary is when you're supposed to jump and we're going to jump.
04:00But taking the full reins of a logging operation isn't just a massive gamble.
04:04It's also one hell of a grind.
04:07First, Jared and his crew have to track down the giants.
04:11Beautiful, straight.
04:13Then carve out roads so fallers can get to them.
04:17That's when the hazard pay really kicks in.
04:20Can you talk about like the geography of this kind of areas that you work in?
04:24Just so people understand.
04:25I mean, we see the lakes, we see the rivers, but many people probably don't understand
04:30how remote that is.
04:31Could you talk about that?
04:32And knowing the geography, because I mean, even with you flying in the helicopter over
04:36with the First Nations, you know, it's you see the expanse.
04:41Could you talk about that?
04:43Oh, for sure.
04:44It's so remote, but it's so beautiful.
04:49It is extremely difficult to get supplies in and out, get people in and out.
04:54We're flying in lots of aircraft, boating in our crew boats.
04:59They're like a metal crew boat, water taxi type kind of deal.
05:04The guys can boat up to three hours just to get the site.
05:07So we have to have these remote camps just to house people and make sure that they're
05:13not too tired to tackle this dangerous job every day.
05:16So it's a challenge in itself, just getting to work.
05:19And it's a challenge just housing people to the work.
05:22So we live a lot of challenges.
05:26We live a lot of challenges.
05:29Bringing down just one of these behemoths is a puzzle.
05:32One wrong move can be deadly.
05:36Once the trees hit the ground, the yarders take over, dragging 50,000 pound logs to the
05:42road where loaders bundle them up and oversized haulers called fat trucks muscle them to the
05:49water's edge.
05:50Once they splash down, boom boats wrangle them into place until the log barge arrives.
05:57Then it's payday.
06:00It's the specific trees because you focus on that, you know, because it has to be a
06:05certain kind of tree.
06:06It's not like you just get off the boat and cut the first tree.
06:09That does not happen.
06:10It's about finding the trees, but getting up there, building the roads, getting the
06:15workers up there.
06:16Can you talk about that?
06:17Because that's an unusual part that I wasn't aware of until I watched what you guys were
06:21doing.
06:23Yeah, that's a, we call it logging phases.
06:26So every, you got the fall, you got the road built.
06:30Let me back it up.
06:31You have engineering where professional foresters will go out there and make sure that it's
06:36sustainable to harvest these trees.
06:38Then we move into the falling, the road building, the yarding, the loading.
06:44There's so many phases in logging and every phase has its inherent danger.
06:49So we're going to walk the viewers through our process of logging and show you guys some
06:56really interesting characters while we do it.
06:58So I think we made a great show.
07:01I'm hoping that we get some positive feedback and lots of people tuning in.
07:06I think the road's going to get ugly coming up.
07:08Oh!
07:11So far, the yarder finally seems to be secure.
07:14But the true test is still ahead.
07:17A steep stretch of road that will push Jared's overland haulers to their limits.
07:23It's a narrow road, steep, and if you can't get up it, then, you know, there's a chance
07:29of flipping.
07:30On steep grades like these, the safe thing to do would be to take the yarder off the
07:35truck and walk it up the hill on its own tracks.
07:38But that would cost precious time and money Jared doesn't have.
07:42How's she feeling, Lance?
07:44Feeling good, Jared.
07:45Feeling good, buddy.
07:47The thing is, I mean, you mentioned yarding.
07:49You know, that's one of the things that really was an eye-opener for me in terms of
07:53how that works.
07:54But, you know, what people always have to come back to, you know, it's a business.
07:58You're on a timeline.
08:00You're on a deadline to get these things done.
08:03Could you talk about, you know, because it's as much as trying the logistics of getting
08:08it done to the business of getting it done.
08:11Can you talk about that?
08:12Because they're one in the same in many ways.
08:15Yeah, that's correct.
08:16We are on a tight timeline.
08:17We have weather constraints.
08:19We have crew.
08:21We have all sorts of problems that we're up against.
08:24But we got to get that wood to market so that we get paid before we run out of money.
08:29And we can't afford our fuel, our food, our tires.
08:34There's so many.
08:36It's such a moving goalpost every day on how we create this business and make this
08:42business successful.
08:43So it's definitely very interesting.
08:46And I feel like the viewers are going to be shocked at what it takes to make a 2x4
08:52for building houses around the world.
08:55We're going to take the risk.
08:56We're going to take the risk and we're going to push the yarder over the mountaintop.
09:00We're not wasting our time walking this thing through.
09:03We're going to go for it.
09:05To make the climb, the team will need all the torque they can get.
09:09So they'll use a pickup truck to pull the heavy hauler from the front while Jared pushes
09:14from behind.
09:16I feel like this is going to be a complete **** up, but it'll save us hours of time.
09:24There we go.
09:26Actually get a little bit of adrenaline when this goes on.
09:32We're going up over the mountain now.
09:37Come on.
09:39Let's go.
09:45It's going to be exciting.
09:47And the boss's direction too.
09:49That's even better.
09:50No one can get **** to this one.
09:51And my last question.
09:52Thank you, Jared.
09:53Because with any of the Discovery shows, with a lot of it, we talk about risk versus reward.
09:59But we also talk about the aspect of people have to leave their families for times to
10:05go do this work.
10:07And that must be very hard, both psychologically, but also mentally overall.
10:13Could you talk about that?
10:15Because you want to balance.
10:16I mean, these are a lot of stakes here, but you're doing it for the family.
10:20I hear you say it a couple of times.
10:22It's so important, but you're also missing some aspects of your kids' lives.
10:27But it's that pendulum, that counterbalance of these things.
10:31Can you talk about that from your point of view?
10:34Yeah, it's a unique lifestyle.
10:37These guys, they are away from their family.
10:41They're working hard.
10:42They have their work family, of course, which probably gets them through those dark times.
10:46They're missing soccer games or missing baseball games or missing the kids grow up a bit.
10:51But I always find these big-hearted guys, they go home and they really make when they're
10:58time home with their family special.
11:02We do everything big.
11:03Everything's big.
11:04And my wife kind of gets excited with me sometimes because you come home and nothing small is
11:11good enough.
11:12No mundane task is fun.
11:14You've got to make it big, exciting.
11:17It's just the way of lifestyle for a logger.
11:19And yeah, I really think it's an honor for Discovery Channel to pick me, my company,
11:27my crew to come out and look at what we do and show the world.
11:32So please tune in and I'm excited.