United Kingdom 2011 - 4 | Page 18

C O V E R

S T O R Y

Pierre Bremond: French fast-track ace!
Pharmacist's
portable band
sawmill deep
in the forest
yields 4m3 of
lumber daily

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A private mountain-top sylvicultural,
forestr y and timber processing
operation in the south of France has
overcome drought, hurricanes and the
potential stalling of log conversion by
planned planting and harvesting, as well
as 'in-house' sawing.
The owner, Pierre Bremond, runs his
diverse 250-hectare forest in the Alpes
de Hautes, in Provence.
Devoted to exploiting his cedars,
oaks and black pines, he saws his finest
trees himself and makes tree houses
using the boards and cants. At an
altitude of 1100 metres, on a plateau,
tree houses seem particularly
appropriate.
WOOD-MIZER TODAY AUTUMN 2011

Actually, he lives a double life. Down
in the village of Banon he is the local
pharmacist, and up on the 1100m
plateau he transforms into
arboriculturalist, forester, logger and
sawyer. Only a 4x4 can get up there and
snowshoes are essential in winter. There
are many compensations. For example,
a fine panorama spreads out before him,
spanning the mountains of the Lubéron
sloping down to the Mediterranean.
It was Pierre Bremond's parents who
bought the 300 hectares of undeveloped
land thirty years ago. It comprised
farmland and natural woods dominated
by Scots pine, old oak and beech
coppices. In this beauty spot Pierre