Page 136 - Tattnall County

Mike Collins is up by 4:00 a.m. sitting at his desk with a cup of coffee and at work by 5:00. “Once I get up and get that frst cup of coffee I’m ready to go,” he said. Getting up at 4:00 is a blessing after ffteen years of having to be up by 3:00 a.m. He used to have to be on the road in his old cabover 18-wheeler by 3:30 and headed to the

woods to be loaded with logs and then transport to a wood yard. “That’s just what it took to make it,” said Mike. While he waited in the woods to be loaded, he often thought that there must be some productive use for all the leftover treetops, slash, and debris, which would beneft both the land and the landowner. When Mike heard

about biomass harvesting, he began to do research. He traveled to different places where it was being done and asked a lot of practical questions. Mike came to believe that biomass harvesting could provide the means for good stewardship of forestland so that degraded lands could be reforested. “Biomass harvesting directly addresses

“It’s a hard business to make work. You’ve got to know what you’re doing and you’ve got to have people who know what they’re

doing to work with you,” said Mike.

134 tattnall county Magazine