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Prepare Site - Clearing
Trees and other vegetation needs to be removed first.
Clear trees
Save any plants
Before starting clearing, there may be plants in the house site that you want to transplant. Even in the wild forest there are small tree seedlings as well as Sword ferns, Oregon grape, and Salmonberry plants that are worth saving.
Mulch store
When clearing trees you will have a lot of leafy branches from your cutting. These are useful for scattering over newly excavated ground to help prevent soil erosion. You should form a pile to store it until it is needed. Any left over in the stockpile will rot down to make compost.
Felling the trees
Using a chainsaw, cut down the trees that are in the way of the building. If you are not sure if a tree will be in the way then it's best to leave it standing for the moment (because you can't put them back if you decide you want them). Cut the trunks into manageable lengths so you can transport them off the building site. I used my jeep and my tractor to drag them away. If you want them to be useful as lumber then try to keep the lengths greater than 12'6". Keeping them long gives flexibility even if you eventually decide to cut them later into 18" lengths for fire wood.
