In the March/April 2017 edition of My Take, Timber Harvesting magazine Executive Editor DK Knight discusses the state of the logging industry. Knight writes, “As spring makes its 2017 mark, the state of the logging industry as a whole appears to be a mixture of good, steady, so-so, not so good, and for some, as challenging as shoveling thick fog. Market conditions may be the best in the West, where supply and demand reportedly remain pretty well balanced. In the northern tier, most mills are said to be in decent shape with inventory, but there are some concerns about short-term supply going forward. Stumpage prices, particularly in Wisconsin and Michigan, remain stubbornly high, as I understand it. From those states to Maine, markets for softwood pulpwood generally are tight if not non-existent.”

Oregon County Timber Lawsuit Moving Ahead; Rentech Considers Options, Including Sale; Florida Sawmill Falls Behind, Closes Gap; Proposal Made For Gainesville Plant; Enviva Launches Wood Accountability Program; Hampton Starts Up Banks Sawmill; Logger John Bunn, II Dies In Truck Mishap; Carolina Chips Mill Is Gearing Up

Timber Harvesting magazine Associate Editor Jessica Johnson has the opportunity to visit Trey Maxwell Logging in Sarepta, Louisiana. For a man from rural Louisiana who likes hunting, fishing and otherwise relishes the outdoors, there’s really not much more he could want from a job in the woods. “There’s cool air and country music in these machines,” logger Trey Maxwell says with a grin. “What more could you want?” So when Maxwell, 45, who hails from Sarepta, located in the state’s far northwestern corner, finished his four years on the Louisiana Tech baseball team and came out with a forestry degree, it was very easy to see where he wanted his path to go. Long a fan of “new toys” as he calls them, Maxwell says he started from nothing. His maternal uncle made sure when he climbed in a skidder for the first time one summer, simply looking for some extra money, the logging bug firmly bit him.

Timber Harvesting magazine Western Editor Dan Shell travels to Castle Rock, Washington to visit Summit Attachments & Machinery and Krume Logging & Excavation. Loggers across the Northwest need to brace themselves for the steep slope winch assist revolution, says Bruce Skurdahl, longtime winch and attachments specialist and a partner in Summit Attachments & Machinery along with logger Eric Krume, who operates Krume Logging & Excavation out of Castle Rock, Wash. During the past decade, safety concerns drove the inception of winch-assist technology, primarily in New Zealand. But the productivity gains possible are also attracting forward-thinking loggers working in steep and rugged conditions to closely evaluate what the technology can do for their operations, Skurdahl says.

Timber Harvesting magazine Western Editor Dan Shell travels to Castle Rock, Washington to visit Summit Attachments & Machinery and Krume Logging & Excavation. Loggers across the Northwest need to brace themselves for the steep slope winch assist revolution, says Bruce Skurdahl, longtime winch and attachments specialist and a partner in Summit Attachments & Machinery along with logger Eric Krume, who operates Krume Logging & Excavation out of Castle Rock, Wash. During the past decade, safety concerns drove the inception of winch-assist technology, primarily in New Zealand. But the productivity gains possible are also attracting forward-thinking loggers working in steep and rugged conditions to closely evaluate what the technology can do for their operations, Skurdahl says.

RTC Loader Package/Barko Hydraulics, LLC; C Series Knucklebooms & 538 LL Forest Machine/Caterpillar Forest Products; ‘Go To’ Delimbing Tool/Chambers Delimbinator; Ground Saws, Pull-Through Delimbers/Cutting Systems, Inc.; 3 Loader Models & Grapples/Doosan Construction Equipment; ZX310F-6: Comfort, Productivity/Hitachi Construction Machinery-Americas; Grapple Leader/Hultdins, Inc.; 6 Loader Models/John Deere Construction & Forestry; Purpose-Built Loaders/Komatsu America Corp.; Swing Brake/Prolenc Manufacturing, Inc.; GS500 Grapple Saw & 5628 Delimber/R Squared Solutions, Inc.; Grapples/Pierce Pacific Manufacturing, Inc.; DOT 50K Loader/Tajfun USA; 3 Knuckleboom Models/Tigercat Industries, Inc.; SERCO Loaders/Two Harbors Machine Shop, Inc.

Peterson Small Drum Chipper; John Deere Intelligent Boom Control; Komatsu Tier 4f Forwarders; Eco Log Forwarder Series

More than 6,000 logging industry professionals from across the Northwest and 37 U.S. states plus countries as far-flung as Australia, Estonia, Russia, Japan and Sweden and others made the 2017 Oregon Logging Conference in Eugene, Ore. in late February a well-attended event, according to show officials and attendees. According to OLC Conference Manager Rikki Wellman, the 79th OLC featured more than 250 exhibitors displaying in over 90,000 sq ft. of inside exhibit space, and millions of dollars of logging, trucking, construction and heavy equipment displayed on over 14 acres of outside exhibit area. Jeff Wimer, 79th Annual OLC President and a Senior Instructor II and Manager of Student Logging Program at Oregon State University, said the success of the conference reflected an upbeat outlook in logging and related industries.

J.J. Lemire, Director of Loss Control for Forestry Mutual Insurance Company, discusses road departures. Lemire writes, “One item released from the Federal Highway Safety Administration each year tells a chilling story about driver safety: Every 21 minutes, a road departure fatality occurs. Each day across America millions of truck drivers haul products to support our economy. Trucking plays a huge role in the forest products industry. Trucks are the way our industry moves its products to market. Once a truck leaves a logging job, warehouse, plant or mill, drivers are on their own and away from direct supervision. There is a tremendous amount of responsibility and liability based upon drivers’ decisions and actions. Truck wrecks seem to be increasing, and all too many times a fatality occurs as a result. Each driver killed was a family member who did not go home at the end of the workday.”

Ponsse Delivers 12,000th Machine; Barko Hydraulics Names Larsen As President; Niziolek Joins Morbark As VP Of Operations; Peterson Pacific Adds Goodfellow, Border; G&W Equipment Has New Ownership; Logset Oy Pinpoints Russia For Growth; Caterpillar Won’t Build Headquarters In Peoria; Western Star Begins Anniversary Celebration; Precision Husky Adds Rob’s Hydraulics; Seppi M. Announces Warehouse Shipping

As We See It: Teamwork Keeps Us Moving Forward; TEAM Safe Trucking Effort Moving Ahead; John Kimbel, Jr. Died February 7; Terry Conley Honored By Forest Resources Assn.