With Bob Growney working on the sensitive logs, Vermont Family Forests turned to Ken Gagnon's sawmill in Pittsford, Vermont for the majority of the milling. By industry standards Gagnon runs a small mill, but as far as work goes, they usually handle jobs much larger than Middlebury's specialty order. Gagnon remarked that the smaller VFF jobs are great for him when the inventories are low. "For me, it is a market that I am small enough to fit into that the bigger guys won't mess with." When asked about his practices with respect to any sort of certification he remarked, "I am happy doing it like this, but the economics to go through the certification may not be worth it." He also added, "Ethically, a certification program is fine, but it implies that other wood has not met the same standard-which is not accurate." He referred to sorting as a particular problem of small jobs. At Gagnon's all the sorting is done by hand and naturally, "When we have to sort it 4 or 5 different ways. . . ." Gagnon remarked, trailing off to indicate the implied inefficiency. But in spite of the cumbersome nature of Middlebury's order, Gagnon and the five employees required to run the mill quickly completed the milling, sending the boards on their way to the kiln. 
Logs await their turn to go through Gagnon's mill.
A close up of a beam as it heads through the mill's principle blade.
Before the logs head to the mill they are scrubbed down to remove dirt and bark.
Next: At the Kiln