An Ocean of timber: the Navy forest - Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana

All Hands, April, 2002 by Saul Ingle

USS Constitution, the world's oldest commissioned warship, is re-planked when needed, with wood from the Navy forest in Crane, Ind.

PICTURE THIS. YOU'RE DRIFTING ACROSS A beautiful 800-acre lake, your rod and reel in one hand, a saidwich in the other. The water sparkles in the cool autumn sun as the forest rustles in the breeze.

If you think a place like this only exists in some carefully-managed and protected national park, you're half-right.

Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane is not a national park, but you would never know that by looking at it. Crane's grounds are, however, a national asset managed by a team of Navy civilians with degrees in forestry.

"We are here to make sure the natural resources aren't abused," said Trent Osmon, a forester for NSWC Crane.

Most of the lumber harvested on Crane goes off to saw mills to become everything from particleboard to fine veneer furniture. However, one species of tree, Live Oak, has a more exciting future.

The hull of the Navy's oldest commissioned ship, USS Constitution, is repaired with lumber from Crane's Navy forest. "It doesn't happen very often," said Forester Terry Hobson. "But they come in every eight or 10 years and harvest lumber for the ship." The lumber is carefully selected from candidate trees that Hobson and Osmon select and mark using global positioning technology.

NSWC Crane is also a haven for the extensive wildlife population that calls the 64,000-acre ordnance depot home. Besides ordnance, Crane provides acquisition, engineering, logistics and maintenance support to the fleet's weapons and electronic systems.

"We have many different endangered species on Crane," said Hobson. One of the protected species is the bald eagle, our national bird.

"Bald eagles came to Crane 15 years ago," said Hobson. "When they first came here, they settled on the lake." After the eagles failed to mate, they followed their instincts and moved the nest until they were successful. "We think the area the eagles were living in before they came to Crane was polluted, which caused them to move here," said Osmon. "But ever since they successfully mated, they have been at the same place."

The foresters on Crane have also teamed up with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Fish and Wildlife Division in trapping some of the bobcat population that calls the base home. "The bobcat is an endangered species in Indiana," said wildlife technician Amy Ferchak. "The area inside Crane is so well maintained that it's natural for the cats to want to live here," she added.

Foresters of NSWC Crane not only protect its wildlife, they also carefully manage the 50,000 acres of timber on base.

The lumber inside the Crane gates is worth nearly $130 million, and many contractors would love to come in and harvest every tree on the base. The team of conservationists at the Natural Resources Center keeps that from happening.

"When a company wants to come in and harvest, we go out and mark certain trees that we want them to cut down," said Osmon. "We don't allow them to come in and just clear cut," he added.

"Each tree is selected for its strength and value to the forest:' said Osmon. "If we know a tree will eventually die from a disease like Dutch Elm, we will allow it to be cut down to make room for a more desirable species that will thrive?'

The timber on Crane is sometimes harvested by large company contractors who come in with heavy equipment -- but not always.

The conservationists, who are continuously looking out for the environment, don't want the big machinery rolling through some of the more delicate areas, so occasionally Crane employs the services of the local Amish community.

"We brought Amish loggers in, because there are places on Crane that would be damaged too much if we brought in the heavy equipment," said Osmon.

The Amish contractors use Belgian horses to bring the timber out of the forest. "These are some of the hardest working horses in the world," said local Amish logger Raymond Graber. The horses don't cause the damage a large tractor would.

The heavy equipment other contractors use can leave large ditches that take years to recover, but the horses leave little more than fertilizer behind.

"I think it's a pretty good thing they're doing out here," said Amish logger Ernest Graber, who is quite pleased at how the Navy takes care of the forest and ensures the resources are maintained with a high sense of responsibility for both the enviroment and Constitution.

"Old Ironsides" depends on the lumber from this Indiana forest to keep its hull integrity watertight and damage free. As long as the historic vessel remains part of the fleet, it will continue to receive the support from this little-known Navy base in the heartland of America -- a base that truly keeps environmental concerns at the top of its list of priorities.

Amish loggers Ray Graber and his son Kelly cut a tree into section. The Grabers had to be granted special permission by the pastor of their church to use chainsaws and trucks since modern tools are not usually used by the Amish.