Crosscut Saw Training - Quilcene Ranger Station

Car Pool Meeting time is  7:00 a.m. at the Olympic National Forest Headquarters located at 1835 Black Lk Blvd SW  We plan to carpool to the training site, departing at 7:10  a.m. 

The classroom session (8-noon) will be in Quilcene at the Quilcene Comunity Center at 295142 Hwy 101,  Quilcene; at the Quilcene Ranger  Station.  The practical sawyer skills practice will be held on DNR lands within 5 miles of the  classroom site.    

To participate in the use of crosscut saws and sawyer work, students must have a current Basic First Aid and CPR Card.  Students without Basic First Aid (FA) and CPR may receive permission to participate in the training course, but will not be permitted to participate in future sawyer work until they secure a current FA-CPR Card.   

In addition, some previous Crosscut Saw experience is important for students to be able to gain the maximum benefit from this Sawyer certification, but not mandatory.  Enthusiasm for Crosscut work with The Olympia Branch is a great substitute.  

For over a century, the Crosscut Saw was the standard tool used in the Pacific Northwest Forests for felling and bucking some of the largest timber on earth.  Today the Crosscut saw is the tool of choice in Wilderness Areas and on most other trails where a hiker’s path must be cleared through fallen trees.  Every year the forested trails in the Pacific Northwest lose many beautiful, ancient trees, and many younger ones too, due to natural events.      

This training is needed for the use of the crosscut saw on trails and other public lands. Past participants have rated the instruction EXCELLENT and have found the use of the Crosscut Saw for trail work to be personally rewarding, vigorous and fascinating.

The morning session from 8:30 to 12:30 lecture on the historic, current, safe and effective use of the crosscut saws; [location to be determined]. Afternoon Session is 1 PM to 5 PM and is the practical skills session on US Forest Service or DNR lands  [location to be determined].

Regarding Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) 

The branch will be able to provide Hard Hats, a dozen pairs of safety glasses, slip resistant gloves, a few pairs of leather gloves.