Question about Austin, TX area..

[ironglow]

  I ran into an article which stated something that piqued my curiosity..  Here's the article, then the question
  https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-40647061

  Note the second paragraph below the map.  The article says the Texan in question was a "lumberjack" from the Austin area.
  My recollection of the Austin area doesn't include trees of a number and size that would keep a "lumberjack' busy full time.  Am I missing something?
  When I lived in east Texas "piney woods" area, there were plenty of folks who cut pulp wood, but pulp wood is measured across the stump in inches rather than feet.  ..And these folks referred to themselves a wood cutters, rather than "lumberjacks".
 
  I always figured logs to start at about 2 feet in diameter on up, and "lumberjacks" to be the guys into really big timber.  Is there real timber enough to keep a lumberjack busy as an occupation, in the Austin area?

 

[wtxbadger]

The fella probably just cuts firewood for a living and likes to call himself a lumberjack to feel important.

[Ranger99]

Might well be referring to a bull
dyke as a " lumberjack "
The one on the other side of the
street wears men's clothing and
a big man's watch. Plaid flannel
long sleeve shirts, heavy denim
carpenter pants, wide leather belt,
big lugged sole lace up work boots.
Hates men because they have a
spout and she doesn't

FWIW,  Austin is in 3rd place in
America as far as a population of
lesbian residents

[ironglow]

Yes, Austin seems to be a bit strange and out  of place..

  I do recall some live oak trees in Texas that were sizeable, but not so many that someone could cut them regularly enough to be a "lumberjack".  ..But Texas is a big state, and there could be big timber somewhere there, but not likely around Austin.

[Ranger99]

Lots of tall pines cut and hauled
in east Texas every day
Probably not what many might
consider " big"
Most everything of size is shipped
to japan or veneered
Most of the rest is made into
chips before it ever leaves the woods.
They have a huge "pencil sharpener "
they feed a pine into that makes
the proper sized chips and blows
them into a big trailer made of
expanded metal and that goes to
the factory for making OSB sheets
No sawmill or curing needed.
I've seen em taking the trees down
for this, and they can get it
stripped of timber with a speed
that's amazing.
They have some contraptions that
run around like a skid steer and
grab onto a pine and pinch it
off at the ground and carry it to
the chipper and poke it in and
go fetch another. Like a bunch of
big yellow rabbits running back
and forth

[ironglow]

  Where I lived in east Texas from 1968-1971, there was much pulp wood cutting. Northeast of me ..near Buna or Silsbee was a paper plant.  When the wind came from that direction, the odor was quite strong.

   I suspect that is better now, since I sometimes go through Johnsonburg, PA which has a paper mill, and it doesn't smell like it used to.  Must be using a different formula.