Discovery Channel has been host to an array of heavy-hitting docuseries that tackle unique worlds and industries. Like Deadliest Catch and Gold Rush before it comes The Last Woodsmen. Taking viewers into the unique industry of logging, The Last Woodsmen is bringing mystifying views and intense stakes to the screen. In the Pacific Northwest, an experienced logging crew risk their lives and limbs to harvest some of the planet’s most remote and valuable trees. But getting these giants from the forest to market is deadly.
Leading the pack is Cyprus Creek Logging’s Jared Douglas. As the owner of the company, he leads his team as they hope to harvest trees that will award them a massive payout. With the stakes and the risks quite high, Douglas has welcomed the cameras into his intimate world in the first season of The Last Woodsmen. As he says, “It’s something in your blood. Once you’re a logger, you always want to be a logger.”
Jared Douglas Explains What Logging Is

“Keeping people safe is a paramount problem.”

Image via Discovery Channel

COLLIDER: The world of logging is coming to the screen on The Last Woodsmen. Jared, how excited are you for the world to see this show?
JARED DOUGLAS: I’m pretty excited. It’s definitely nice to get to tell the logger’s side of the story. So, really excited for the world to see what we got to offer.
How would you describe The Last Woodsmen?
DOUGLAS: I would describe it just kind of aa an inside peek of how people live. The crew that I have, their hearts are as big as the trees they cut down. They’re characters. You know, we always say we’re all here because we’re not all there. We all live and work in a camp together. So, I’m just really excited. I think that my crew will be able to tell their stories. And I’m proud of what we do, so I’m proud to show the world.
What’s it like bringing your universe to the screen and having the cameras follow you on these adventures?
DOUGLAS: Well, we’re not very technical. We use power saws and axes and old antiquated logging equipment from the ’60s and the ’70s. You know, a lot of innovation has come our way. We do try to keep up with the times, but it seems like in the old growth harvesting business, we’re still using old equipment and just keeping those things running is a major task in itself. Keeping people safe is a paramount problem. It’s just making sure everybody goes home to their families. It’s just a way of life that a lot of people wouldn’t understand how they get a two-by-four. Everybody hates lumberjacks until they got to buy a two-by-four. But it’s just good to see, be able to see our side and how logging is actually done and how these people live their lifestyles.
Now watching the show, I really think the cinematography is stunning. Do you ever get a moment to take in the beauty of the nature and wildlife around you in the Pacific Northwest?
DOUGLAS: Oh, every day. I do have an office. I don’t spend much time in it. I always say my pickup truck is my office, driving from site to site. We have the most beautiful views in the world. The cab of a grapple yarder or a log loader or logging truck, you know, you see the best views in the world. Nobody can come close to our views at work. Sometimes, I just stop, and I take a look out onto the Pacific. Next sigh is Japan over beautiful islands. It’s beautiful. You guys are going to see a lot of beautiful spots where we work and play. All these guys, also, usually when they’re on their days off, they’re out hunting or fishing in this area as well. We’re true woodsmen.
How did you get into this world, and what keeps you logging?
DOUGLAS: I started when I was young. Probably wasn’t very good at school. And I thought, “How else am I going to make a good wage?” So I end up going logging. What keeps me logging is just the men. The crew. I can’t explain the camaraderie and the brotherhood that we have. It’s just, I guess, same as people that would go to war with each other. Everybody’s got their head on a swivel, and they’re watching for dangers. You’re watching out for your fellow logger. We’re just very in touch with danger, but we’re also very in touch with lifestyles. You go back to a camp. You’re stuck with this guy for many days while we’re doing a shift, and they’re your family. You spend more time with them than you do with your own family. It’s hard to explain, but I’m sure viewers tuning in will get an inside look on how we live and how we work and how we play.
For those watching your show and seeing this world, what’s something you want viewers to learn about your industry? And what would you say is the biggest misconception about your industry?
DOUGLAS: The biggest thing I want to portray in our industry is how we do logging responsibly. I don’t think that it’s portrayed the right way. I always feel that our industry is under fire. We’re always criticized, and I want people to see our side of the story. That’s the biggest misconception of logging. These guys do a dangerous job to bring a green renewable industry. Wood is the warmest bill, nicest product to work with in the world, and it’s been used over time. I’m definitely excited for the world to see this.
Logging Is One of the Deadliest Jobs on the Planet

“That’s the fighter pilot job of the logging industry.”

Before the show even begins, we get an advisory warning that harvesting wood is the deadliest job on the planet. Can you speak on the dangers one may face?
DOUGLAS: Yes. I’ve known lots of people that we’ve lost doing this job. It’s a hard subject to talk about, because like I say, these people are not just your workers, they’re, they’re part of your family. So you lose people in incidences or accidents. And it hits home. It’s, it’s hard, you know? All these wives of these workers, they know when their husband leaves that door they might not come home. That’s a tough reality to swallow. We live it every day. So, hopefully, we can gain some respect of people that might not know what we actually do in this industry. And it’s the greenest, most renewable industry in the world.
We get to see an assortment of different jobs within your crew. We are going to learn how each person gets to do their individual task. Is there one job that you would say is the most dangerous, the most fun, the hardest, and how do you decide who gets to do what position?
DOUGLAS: Yeah, that’s interesting ’cause usually people will start entry level jobs, which would be like working on a grapple yarder or working in a log dump, where it’s less danger. Not that the grapple yarder isn’t dangerous, but they’ll stay on the road with the grabble yarder. But eventually they’ll progress, and they’ll pick kind of where they want their career to lead them to. Hand falling is the most dangerous. The hand faller is attractive because the money’s the best. And also a hand faller can only work six and a half hours before they’re so physically exhausted that they can’t, they can’t do their job safely. So six and a half hour day and a big paycheck, you know, that’s pretty attractive to these guys. So, that’s the fighter pilot job of the logging industry. And trust me, they’re prima donnas like pilots as well.

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We get to see your really unique living situation of a float camp. What’s the hardest part about being so far removed from civilization in order to do this high-stakes profession?
DOUGLAS: Definitely, we’ve come leaps and bounds thanks to Elon Musk — throwing it out there. But Starlink has helped our people be able to communicate with home. We used to have a very antiquated satellite internet. So that’s kind of changed in the last three years, but these guys are just away from home, right? They’re missing their kids’ soccer games or hockey games or football games. They work a certain shift. You can tell, you know your people good enough, you get enough emotional intelligence that you know when a guy’s having a hard time or not getting along with his wife or missing out on stuff. So it’s tough. We lose a few people here and there. It’s funny. We’ll lose a crew to family issues. They’ll have to go home and work in town. But normally, I always say they always come back. It’s something in your blood. Once you’re a logger, you always want to be a logger.
It was really cool to see the float camp and see how each person gets their own room. And there’s still a community that’s part of this float camp where you are living and working together, but it still feels like you have your own personal space to be on your own.
DOUGLAS: Yeah, for sure. When you start seeing guys putting up posters or pictures of their family in their rooms, I call it “Aquatraz.” It almost becomes like jail, and guys get institutionalized to camp. I always make fun of my wife when I get home. Like I have never done laundry. I’ve never cooked for myself. The cooks and the bull cooks that work in camp, they take extremely good care of these guys. They work hard, but they get treated when they get back to camp. Camp’s always got to be clean. It’s always got to be warm to get in from the wet, cold. They have to have a room to dry all their clothes. They have to have a good solid meal. It’s just a way of life, and it’s unique to a lot of places. These guys don’t have to come in and cook. They don’t have to come in and clean, and they certainly do not have to come in and do their laundry. So that’s all looked after for them. You get, you get accustomed to that lifestyle. When you get out, I always call the guys seven-day millionaires because usually they get a week off, and they got a ton of money, so they get to play hard with their money as well.
Logging Is Much More Sustainable Than You Think

” It’ll be really good for the viewers to see sustainable industry from our side.”

Some of the timber you’re scouting could be worth up to $70,000 a piece. What’s it like when you locate one of those beauties?
DOUGLAS: When we locate those trees, they’re majestic. We love to see them. A lot of them are rotten. They’re at the end of their life cycle. So that’s kind of another misconception. They’re dying. The tops will be dying off them. You’re kind of harvesting them. You know that they’re going to be made into housing, beautiful countertops, or mantles. So somebody is going to get a piece of that tree for the rest of their lives. It’s a pride thing, you know? The guys are like, “Oh yeah, we got a big tree,” but they also care about the forest, and they care about it. You know, loggers are the best. Are the number one environmentalists. A lot of people could not even access these forests if it wasn’t for loggers building roads to the sites where we go. We have lots of parks. I know lots of loggers. There’s one campsite in the area that we work in. The loggers were sent in to follow it, and they refused to. It was too nice. They refused to fall it, and they built a campsite there. It’s one of the best campsites around. And that’s kind of the real story of loggers, you know? We don’t want to cut down anything that’s majestic or anything like that. We look for things that are dying. And we get to reuse that wood in products that people use around the world. It’s actually a great industry.
You mentioned it on the show about the discussion of sustainability and planting trees. Three trees for everyone you take down. Why is this an important message that the audience needs to hear while watching?
DOUGLAS: I think it’s really important just to know that we’re regenerating forests, which also creates jobs. We need an economy. It’s a natural resource. And the tree planters, they work really hard too. So we’ll have another industry that’s regenerating the forest. Tree planters and silviculture. It’s a whole thing. It’s our own little ecosystem in an ecosystem that we work and play. We call it our working forest, and it’s very important to put back what we’ve taken. The wildlife seems to like the regenerating forest. It’s somewhere they can eat. That’s where we see a lot of the life start to happen again is after logging. There is life after logging, and it’ll be really good for the viewers to see sustainable industry from our side.
Your show is joining some big hitters on Discovery. Why are you excited to join this family?
JARED: Well, yeah, it’s definitely surreal to think about that we’re going to be joining with their big banner series. It’s pretty exciting for me. It’s really exciting for my crew. It’s really exciting for the families of my crew. I don’t know how it’s going to go. I really hope that lots of people tune in, and we get a chance to carry this on. I’m excited. I’m excited for the world to see the industry that we cherish.
Absolutely. I enjoyed watching, and I can’t wait to see how the season goes along. Congratulations on the show.
DOUGLAS: Thank you very much.
Thank you so much for chatting.
DOUGLAS: You betcha. Have a good day.
The Last Woodsmen is available to stream on Max in the U.S.
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