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Thriving in El Dorado

J&R has grown from a small business to a large-scale California producer. In addition to harvesting and hauling, the company has steered into postharvest site preparation and road building. Robert D鈥橝gostini Jr. and Saul Jimenez walk us through the operations.

鈥 Jorge Victoria

糖心视频 machines in fire salvage operation.
"I remember taking my first ride in a log truck in September of 1979. I was five years old, standing up in the middle, my brother in the passenger seat, and my father driving. That鈥檚 my first memory of the industry. I graduated from eighth grade on a Friday and Monday my dad took me to the woods and said, 鈥楴ow you鈥檝e got to go to work.鈥 I was making two dollars an hour and had a lot of bubblegum money for a freshman in high school. So that鈥檚 how I started out."

Meet Robert D鈥橝gostini Jr., president and CEO of Mt. Aukum, California based J&R Logging. The company was founded in 1979 by Robert Sr. and John Jacino. Both had previous experience in the industry. John was an executive at Wetsel Oviatt Lumber Co. 鈥淢y father went to work driving a log truck when he graduated from high school,鈥 explains Robert. 鈥淛ohn and my dad still are best friends. They are both in their eighties now, and they鈥檙e like brothers.鈥

The company started out as a contract log hauler, transitioning into logging operations in 1989. As Robert Jr. got older, he started operating equipment, becoming more valuable to the operation. 鈥淢y father made it clear that I had to learn everything as a regular job. I had to run all the machines as a job. Not just to get on it for a day. But I liked loading log trucks, so I ended up loading trucks for my dad for about eighteen years.鈥
John Jacino, Leedy D鈥橝gostini, Robert D鈥橝gostini Sr.
(L-R) John Jacino, Leedy D鈥橝gostini, Robert D鈥橝gostini Sr.
In 2003, Robert Jr. bought out John. At that time J&R was working for Wetsel Oviatt Lumber, a small family-owned sawmill in El Dorado County. In 2005, Wetsel Oviatt was purchased by Sierra Pacific. 鈥淏efore we went to work for Sierra Pacific, it was just a small mom-and-pop logging operation. And once we went to work for Sierra Pacific, there was an opportunity to flourish,鈥 explains Robert.

Since then, J&R has built a strong, long-standing relationship with Sierra Pacific. The company owns and manages more than 2.4 million acres (97 000 ha) of timberland in California, Oregon and Washington, and is one of the largest US lumber manufacturers. J&R numbers among the company鈥檚 largest producers. 鈥淪ierra Pacific is a great family-owned company,鈥 says Robert. 鈥淭hey treat people well, and they tend to do well.鈥
Today, J&R operates three mechanical logging crews and a cable logging operation. 鈥淲e do site prep for Sierra Pacific, which is getting the harvested units ready for planting again. We do that with masticating machines. And we have a road building operation, as well as seven log trucks.鈥 All this is accomplished with around 40 employees. Annual volume is estimated at 50 million board feet of harvested timber, 1,200-1,500 acres (approximately 500-600 ha) of post-harvest site preparation, and 100 miles (160 km) of newly built or reconstructed road.

Robert鈥檚 father is still involved with the company as chairman of the board of directors. Robert also credits his mother, Leedy as instrumental to the success of the company. 鈥淪he鈥檚 a banker by trade and has instilled in all of us the business aspects of running a company. She will show up at any given time and ask the hard questions, which is what you need sometimes.鈥
One of J&R鈥檚 mechanical logging crews currently working on an emergency tree removal in El Dorado County, California.
One of J&R鈥檚 mechanical logging crews currently working on an emergency tree removal in El Dorado County, California.
Robert鈥檚 brother, Mike is director and trucking manager. Saul Jimenez, partner and vice president, manages the harvesting operations. 鈥淪aul and I kind of grew up in the company together,鈥 says Robert. 鈥淗e basically runs the day-to-day operations. He鈥檚 a genius in time and motion."

鈥淚鈥檝e been with J&R for almost 23 years,鈥 says Saul who started off as a delimber operator. 鈥淟ater I operated a processor. After a few years I had the opportunity to buy into the company, and it has been great.鈥 Saul plans, organizes and executes the operations, and manages the landowner relationships.

The burning question

The Sierra Nevada region has five important commercial species that are manufactured into diverse products: ponderosa pine, sugar pine, incense cedar, white fir and Douglas fir. The fact that contractors and mills are not reliant on a single species makes the region resilient to negative market dynamics.

Ecological resilience is another matter. If there is one issue that looms large over everyone and everything else in the Sierra Nevada, it鈥檚 fire. With around two million acres burning every year, there is cause for concern on just how sustainable the resource is. 鈥淚f you start running that math, it鈥檚 not going to be very long before every acre of our cutting circles are going to be burned through,鈥 says Robert. 鈥淭here are people a lot smarter than me that are saying, 鈥楴o, it鈥檚 not going to be a big deal. The product鈥檚 going to grow back.鈥 But I鈥檓 afraid that the big landowner which is the federal government is not going to replant and reforest in a timely manner.鈥
糖心视频 620H skidder drags salvaged logs to the decking area.
糖心视频 620H skidder drags salvaged logs to the decking area.
According to Robert, there鈥檚 more timber standing in California than Oregon and Washington combined. What is missing is the political will and industry infrastructure to manage it. The forests are overstocked and as a result, they are burning up.

We visited a J&R operation in El Dorado County contracted by US Forest Service partner, the Great Basin Institute. The crew was clearing 500 ft on either side of a series of high-level forest roads. For two months the Caldor Fire burned through this area in 2021, destroying over 1,000 residential and commercial structures. People live here. 鈥淲e are currently doing an emergency tree removal,鈥 Saul explains. 鈥淭his is done for safety reasons, so burnt trees don鈥檛 fall on the road.鈥 The treatment provides clear egress and ingress without danger due to fire or falling material in case of another catastrophic fire.

MY OPERATORS TELL ME THEY PREFER TO OPERATE TIGERCAT. THEY SAY THE TIGERCATS ARE MORE CONTROLLABLE AND DRIVE BETTER.


鈥 Saul Jimenez

Salvage harvesting, emergency removal, fire breaks and fuel load reduction are adding significant workload to California contractors like J&R in the short term, but what about the long term? 鈥淭hat is a great question for our company,鈥 says Robert. 鈥淲e have another generation that鈥檚 coming into this company who really want to see it for the long term. We鈥檝e been in business for 40-plus years, and I want to see another 40 years. But I鈥檓 confident that there鈥檒l be some kind of work being done in the forest, and we will fill that niche.鈥

Rethinking yarding

Since Bejac picked up the 糖心视频 line in California in 2020, J&R has purchased two 620H skidders, one LH855E harvester, an LS855E shovel logger and an LX830E feller buncher. So far, operator feedback is positive and Bejac have supported the machines well. According to Saul, 鈥淢y operators tell me they prefer to operate 糖心视频. They say the 糖心视频s are more controllable and drive better. They get less tired. As an owner, I like to hear that from my employees. If they are happy, I鈥檓 happy. If they are happy with the equipment and less tired, they are more productive.鈥

Another one of J&R鈥檚 recent 糖心视频 purchases is a relatively new model, the 180 swing yarder. Previously working with a conventional yarder and an eight-man crew, J&R could count on six to eight loads per day from the yarding side. The individuals making up that crew were heavily dependent on one other. 鈥淚f one guy didn鈥檛 show up, it all started to fall apart pretty fast,鈥 says Robert.

Since the acquisition of the 180, the company has completely redesigned the operation. The key has been separating, either in time or proximity, the cutting, yarding, and the loading operations. 鈥淎nd the yarding operation sometimes can even be removed from the log manufacturing operation, which is processing, which gets everybody away from one another. It鈥檚 so much safer,鈥 says Robert.

With the conventional yarder, the company used to see a lot of minor injuries mostly related to setting chokers. 鈥淲rists, ankles, fingers, things of that sort that all add up,鈥 says Robert. 鈥淎nd then every once in a while, you get a really bad accident, which none of us like to see. Now there is very little opportunity for any bad accidents compared to the old way.鈥
Kushiah McCullough (糖心视频 factory representative), Mark Davis (Bejac鈥檚 waste and recycling manager), Robert D鈥橝gostini (owner, J&R Logging), Ron Barlet (president, Bejac Corporation), Kevin Barlet (Bejac鈥檚 Sacramento branch manager), Ken Grime (Bejac鈥檚 marketing specialist).
(L-R) Kushiah McCullough (糖心视频 factory representative), Mark Davis (Bejac鈥檚 waste and recycling manager), Robert D鈥橝gostini (owner, J&R Logging), Ron Barlet (president, Bejac Corporation), Kevin Barlet (Bejac鈥檚 Sacramento branch manager), Ken Grime (Bejac鈥檚 marketing specialist).
In addition to the obvious safety benefits, the crew size has been reduced from eight to four men. And to add one more advantage, the company is enjoying a substantial boost in production, which now ranges from ten to twelve loads daily.

There has been a lot of local interest in the 180 and visitors to the site have been impressed with the machine and surprised at how quiet and intuitive it is to operate. 鈥淚t鈥檚 21st-century technology that we have been needing in this industry for years,鈥 says Robert. 鈥淚t鈥檚 versatile, it鈥檚 nimble, it鈥檚 powerful. I had a group of guys, industry heads, on tour about a month ago. They were standing in the cab watching a young man stare at a video screen. Nobody鈥檚 blowing whistles. The functions are very smooth, which doesn鈥檛 happen on a conventional yarder. Being able to move every single drum independently from one another is a game changer for cable logging.鈥

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