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Vol. 49, No. 2
(Founded in 1972—Our 569th Consecutive Issue)
F E AT U R E S out front:
February 2020 A Hatton-Brown Publication
Phone: 334-834-1170 Fax: 334-834-4525
www.southernloggintimes.com Publisher David H. Ramsey Chief Operating Officer Dianne C. Sullivan Editor-in-Chief Senior Editor Managing Editor Senior Associate Editor Associate Editor
Rich Donnell Dan Shell David Abbott Jessica Johnson Patrick Dunning
Publisher/Editor Emeritus David (DK) Knight
14 Full-time logger and full-time pastor Tommy Cunningham testifies to the guiding hand of God in his life. A passionate patriot, Cunningham runs three crews hauling, on average, 40 loads a week. While juggling the responsibility of starting a new church last year, Cunningham was also named Logger of the Year 2019 for Texas. Story begins on Page 8. (Photo by David Abbott)
Hurricane Michael Ongoing Salvage Efforts
Art Director Ad Production Coordinator Circulation Director Online Content/Marketing
Cindy Segrest Patti Campbell Rhonda Thomas Jacqlyn Kirkland
ADVERTISING CONTACTS DISPLAY SALES Eastern U.S. Kathy Sternenberg Tel: 251-928-4962 • Fax: 334-834-4525 219 Royal Lane Fairhope, AL 36532 E-mail: ksternenberg@bellsouth.net Midwest USA, Eastern Canada John Simmons Tel: 905-666-0258 • Fax: 905-666-0778 32 Foster Cres. Whitby, Ontario, Canada L1R 1W1 E-mail: jsimmons@idirect.com
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Reid Logging Bama Logger Of 2019
Southern Stumpin’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Bulletin Board. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Industry News Roundup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 ForesTree Equipment Trader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Machines-Supplies-Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Safety Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Coming Events/Ad Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Western Canada, Western USA Tim Shaddick Tel: 604-910-1826 • Fax: 604-264-1367 4056 West 10th Ave. Vancouver, BC V6L 1Z1 E-mail: tootall1@shaw.ca Kevin Cook Tel: 604-619-1777 E-mail: lordkevincook@gmail.com International Murray Brett Tel: +34 96 640 4165 +34 96 640 4048 58 Aldea de las Cuevas • Buzon 60 03759 Benidoleig (Alicante), Spain E-mail: murray.brett@abasol.net CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
Bridget DeVane
Tel: 1-800-669-5613 • Tel 334-699-7837 Email: bdevane7@hotmail.com
Southern Loggin’ Times (ISSN 0744-2106) is published monthly by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc., 225 Hanrick St., Montgomery, AL 36104. Subscription Information—SLT is sent free to logging, pulpwood and chipping contractors and their supervisors; managers and supervisors of corporate-owned harvesting operations; wood suppliers; timber buyers; wood procurement and land management officials; industrial forestry purchasing agents; wholesale and retail forest equipment representatives and forest/logging association personnel in the U.S. South. See form elsewhere in this issue. All non-qualified U.S. subscriptions are $65 annually; $75 in Canada; $120 (Airmail) in all other countries (U.S. funds). Single copies, $5 each; special issues, $20 (U.S. funds). Subscription Inquiries— TOLL-FREE 800-669-5613; Fax 888-611-4525. Go to www.southernloggintimes.com and click on the subscribe button to subscribe/renew via the web. All advertisements for Southern Loggin’ Times magazine are accepted and published by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. with the understanding that the advertiser and/or advertising agency are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The advertiser and/or advertising agency will defend, indemnify and hold Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. harmless from and against any loss, expenses, or other liability resulting from any claims or lawsuits for libel violations or right of privacy or publicity, plagiarism, copyright or trademark infringement and any other claims or lawsuits that may arise out of publication of such advertisement. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. neither endorses nor makes any representation or guarantee as to the quality of goods and services advertised in Southern Loggin’ Times. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. reserves the right to reject any advertisement which it deems inappropriate. Copyright ® 2020. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Periodicals postage paid at Montgomery, Ala. and at additional mailing offices. Printed In USA.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Southern Loggin’ Times, P.O. Box 2419, Montgomery, AL 36102-2419 Member Verified Audit Circulation
Other Hatton-Brown publications: ★ Timber Processing ★ Timber Harvesting ★ Panel World ★ Power Equipment Trade ★ Wood Bioenergy
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SOUTHERN STUMPIN’ By David Abbott • Managing Editor • Ph. 334-834-1170 • Fax: 334-834-4525 • E-mail: david@hattonbrown.com
2020 Vision indsight, the saying tells us, is 20/20—though like most sayings, that’s not always the case. Foresight, however, is always murky at best; to paraphrase St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians, “Now we see through a glass, dimly.” Or, to quote a more contemporary saint, South Carolina Timber Producers Assn.’s President/CEO Crad Jaynes, “I wish I had a crystal ball, but mine is broken.” Fact is, in the absence of future-predicting 20/20 vision looking forward, our view of the year 2020 is only just forming. So far, though...things don’t look great. Buckle up, folks, it looks like it might be a bumpy year. We’re over supplied and under demanded; the pie is getting smaller and more people want a slice. We’ve got elections and impeachments, trade wars, rain, quotas, mill closures: all the usual suspects and a few new ones too. “We are all struggling,” according to Hardy Rhodes, who works around Monticello and Fordyce in Arkansas. “G-P is taking no roundwood, and there are mill closures.” He reports that Highland Pellets in Pine Bluff, which just opened a few years ago, is going down for the whole year in an effort to refurbish it and hopefully turn it into a profitable operation. “We’re all just trying to keep going,” Rhodes continues. His trucks have to haul pine pulpwood 100 miles to Louisiana. “We have a small hardwood market but the price is down. Quotas are hurting us. And weather has been bad.” Weather is always an aggravating factor. In many parts of the South, the rain has barely stopped since 2020 started. So on top of already reduced demand, many loggers can’t find tracts high and dry enough with accessible roads.
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part of the state have gone out of business, and there are concerns about trucking, but as a whole markets are good, and I think we can expect a decent year. When I talk to loggers from other parts of the country, they’re surprised a lot of times how much is going on in Alabama, and how robust our industry is.”
Prices Hardwood and pine roundwood prices have been on a steadily declining trend since first quarter 2019, according to Fastmarkets RISI North American Woodfiber & Biomass Markets report from January 16. Since November, we’ve lost at least two and up to four million tons of annual pine roundwood demand in the southern Atlantic coast states. Overall, prices have been flat or going down all over, in every region, and in some cases dramatically so—by 15-20% ($6-8 a ton) for hardwood roundwood and $4-8 a ton on pine over the last year. Our sister title, Timber Harvesting, presents similar findings in its January/February issue, quoting Fastmarkets RISI timber analyst Chris Lyddan’s assertion that our industry may have suffered a 2530 year low for U.S. pulpwood consumption in 2019. In fact, Lyddan says that pulpwood consumption has been declining by 1-2% a year in most years for the last two decades; in 2019 alone, the loss may have been as high as 4%. It hasn’t been that bad since the financial crisis that’s now more than a decade in the past, having started even before President Obama took office. Lyddan expects to report no good news on the pulp/paper fiber demand front for 2020.
Outlook South Carolina’s Crad Jaynes admits that most loggers in his state are not overall optimistic right now. It has gotten more challenging, his members report to him. “A lot of guys had a tough year last year, and some others did well,” he says. Though they’re working, many are operating below capacity and on quota. Heavy rain throughout most of the month has kept many mills full in January. Obviously every market is local—prices reportedly have been higher along the Florida-Georgia line than along the Virginia/North Carolina border—so even while some people are struggling, others in different areas may be doing quite well, and I sure hope so. But, from the people with whom I’ve conversed since New Year’s, I haven’t heard much encouraging news. One notable exception is the Alabama Loggers Council’s Joel Moon. Joel submitted an article for us this issue (on the Reid family, on page 20), and he told me that it’s not all doom and gloom. In fact, he stresses, he sees many reasons to justify an optimistic outlook. “Some of our guys in the northern 6
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Demand A lot of loggers think it seems like a few big mill companies run the show when it comes to pricing. In some areas, loggers tell me that all of their mill outlets for hundreds of miles in any direction belong to the same two or three companies, companies that in many cases have little or no incentive to prioritize logger interests. Some loggers with whom I’ve talked wish to remain anonymous or in some cases to talk completely off the record and of course I will respect their wishes. One South Carolina logger told me that he knows of several loggers in his area who recently saw their quotas cut by half. Getting his information from a local paper mill rep, he expects his area to lose consumption to the tune of 2-3 million green tons. SCTPA head Crad Jaynes confirmed for me that WestRock at Charleston is shutting down one line, representing about a million tons of consumption, and that Georgia-Pacific has idled its Fairfax OSB plant, temporarily, for market reasons. Crad is
hopeful that other mills may pick up some of that capacity—he points to WestRock’s containerboard line in Florence—but unfortunately that won’t be of any help to loggers operating too far away. Mills that aren’t shutting down are full. There’s rain and reduced demand to blame. Also, Hurricane Michael…see our update on page 14 this issue… may have hit in 2018, but it continues to cause problems in 2020. So much storm damaged timber was cut that mills are even more full in those regions, and in some cases may have up to a year of inventory accumulated.
Too Much Of A Good Thing? Another problem identified by many: loggers are too good. “We did it to ourselves,” one source told me recently. “A Tigercat 635 can pull 20 loads a day, so loggers are more productive. And with flotation 44 tires, I don’t have to stop in the rain. So the mills stay full. And with the tariffs, the mills can’t sell as much of their products, so they don’t need to buy as much wood, which means I go home on Wednesday instead of working a full week.” Though he emphasizes that this is just “Crad’s opinion,” Crad Jaynes, like many others, thinks that the market might be oversaturated, relative to demand. “Guys are just too efficient.” He adds that some of his members have indicated to him they expect to see a “thinning of the herd” this year. Vance Wright of Virginia’s Charles A. Wright Logging agrees. “Too many loggers got into the business because 2018 was a good year and markets were good,” he says. Now, he has been on quota since March 2019. “It is unheard of to be on quota this time of the year.” He expects the spring to be rough, quota wise. Wright is also concerned about the situation with tariffs in China. He says at least half of his production is in hardwood. “I read somewhere recently that 50% of the grade red oak used to go to China. Now it doesn’t. I don’t think the economy is booming anywhere, so there is nowhere else to send it. And some small hardwood mills have gone out of business around here, too. We are over producing hardwood, we don’t have markets for it.” Wright thinks the second half of the year might be better. “We hope the trade war will be resolved by then. They are supposed to buy a lot of agricultural products, including hardwood—but no one really knows for sure. We are all in limbo, waiting to see.” Back in Arkansas, Rhodes says, “We don’t see anything good on the horizon. We’re just trying to stay afloat till next year.” If they can just survive till 2021, he says, they expect mills to come back online and take more wood. But for this year, he says, loggers in his part of Arkansas expect 2020 to SLT be challenging from start to finish.
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By God’s Grace ■ Tommy Cunningham is a man of faith who puts God first in all things, including in the woods.
By David Abbott
testimony one night. “When I did, the spirit of God came on me and I started preaching. I knew the calling was there. I love to reach out and help people and talk to folks and share the Gospel and pray for peo-
SPURGER, Tex. ong before he founded Cunning★ ham Wood Products a decade ago, Tommy Cunningham, 51, knew he had the call of God on his life. Ever since he became a born-again believer in and follower of Christ in 1986, Cunningham has felt the hand of the Lord guiding the steps of his life. What’s more, he believes God was doing so all along, even before he was aware of it. The Lord called him to preach, he says, shortly after he got saved at River Acres Full Gospel Church on the Neches River. Describing how the calling felt, he says, “When I got saved, I really knew Jesus Christ was in my heart, and it came to me that way: I knew I had to tell people.” He got his opportunity soon enough when Pastor Clovis Ford, his friend Tommy Cunningham and mentor, asked him to share his
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ple. I love people and I love to talk about Jesus.” Cunningham had started a church 17 years ago, and he travels to preach as a guest speaker to places as far away as Arkansas and Ala-
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bama. He says the Lord spoke to him again the first of last year about starting another church in the Jasper area. He and his wife found and rented a retail building last May and have been having services on Sundays and Thursdays since August. Pastoring a church is demanding, so juggling it with logging could be a challenge. “When we started another church, I asked the Lord for good men to help me, who will take care of business whether I am there or not, so I can do for God what God has called me to do as well, because that is the most important thing. If God ain’t number one, all this other stuff don’t make no difference. If He’s not in charge of everything, none of it makes no difference.” Cunningham’s preparation for sermons is pretty straight forward. “I just read my Bible and ask God to give me what He wants me to say, and that’s what I go with. I have never been able to prepare a sermon, but I have never been left without something to say.”
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Operations Honored as the Texas Forestry Assn.’s 2019 Logger of the Year, Cunningham Wood Products fields three crews, in total averaging 3540 loads a day, over haul distances ranging from 40 to 80 miles. The first two crews work for timber dealer Triple T Timberlands, the third crew for Rayonier. The crews also cut some private tracts. Cunningham has a timber buyer on staff and he contracts other loggers to cut those tracts for him. From the various job sites, trucks haul to International Paper in Orange, WestRock in Evadale, Louisiana-Pacific in Jasper, Roy O Martin OSB in Corrigan, and Georgia-Pacific in Camden. Each crew has four trucks assigned to it. Cunningham has 14 trucks in all: four trucks per job, one spare, and one that stays hooked to a lowboy at all times. Most of the fleet is Peterbilt, but there are a few Freightliner, Mack and International trucks mixed in. Although each truck is generally assigned to a set crew, if one job can’t haul for whatever reason and another has extra loads available, then some trucks might be diverted temporarily. All three crew foremen (Jerry Smith, Tommy Winters and Cunningham’s son Jimmy) are outstanding at communication, coordination and cooperation to make each job as efficient and productive as possible, the boss emphasizes. Drivers, he says, also excel at keeping each other informed as to wait times at mills. “They call and say not to send trucks there, and we in turn call our forester, Mr. Robert Wilson, and tell him to divert loads,” Cunningham explains. “It’s the most organized situation I’ve ever had in my life.” Nothing gives Cunningham greater joy, he says, than to see a healthy forest that has grown from a first thinning job he did years before. Such was the case with the 200-plus acre planted pine tract one crew was second thinning when Southern Loggin’ Times visited in November. Cunningham Wood Products employees include, on the clerical side, Ouida Cunningham, Heather Wallet, Lauren Dean, and forester Michael Freck. Working in the woods are Bailin Worthey, Butch Fielder, Carlton Myers, Charles Smith, Chris Dowden, Frank King, Jeffery Crenshaw, Jerry Smith, Jimmy Loftin, Josh Smith, Roland Johnston, Thomas Smith, Tommy Berger and Tommy Winters. Truck drivers are Allen Wesenberg, Bubba Carpenter, Cordis Ashworth, Mike Bush, Edward Nichols, Jerry Woodard, Joey Quesenberry, John Ard, John McCoy, Kevin Fanning, Clarence Foshee and Reggie Adams.
Cunningham is a loyal customer to Doggett Machinery in Lufkin.
The shop team and operators handle most R&M, rarely taking machines to the dealer.
Crew from left: Thomas Smith, Jerry Smith, Tommy Cunningham, Bailin Worthey, Charles Smith, Josh Smith
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Maintenance shop crew is Billy Westbrook, James Chapman, Robert Glaze and William White. Safety meetings take place on the tailgate and cover topics that Cunningham’s wife, Ouida, types up for each crew. Foremen go over the material and everyone signs the sheet before turning it in to the office. Highway safety meetings with drivers are at the shop. Bitco is Cunningham’s insurance carrier.
Machinery
Cunningham believes God has helped him overcome the obstacles he's faced.
Save for a 2011 Barko 495 that keeps trucks loaded on the first crew, equipment across all three crews is all John Deere, 2014-17 models. Crew 1’s 848L skidder, 643L cutter, and 437E loader for delimbing get the job done, alongside the Barko. The second crew is similar: 648L and 648H skidders, 643L cutter and 437D loader. A recent acquisition, the H skidder is a 2014 model. “I didn’t want to buy a new skidder so I found a good one at a decent price,” Cunningham says. “This one had 5,000 hours on it for $90,000.” Crew 3 is nearly identical: 648L and 648H skidders, 643K cutter, 437E and 437D loaders. Loaders pair with CSI 264 Ultra delimbers. For road construction/maintenance, Cunningham has a Deere 650
dozer and 770 maintainer. For tires, Cunningham runs size 34 on cutters and 35.5 on skidders. “With that, there are not many places we can’t work on these plantations,” he says. “We do mostly fourth row thinning, leaving 140 trees per acre.” The main dealer with which he does business is Doggett Machinery in Lufkin, though he buys some parts from Cat/Weiler dealer Texas Timberjack, also in Lufkin, and Forestry Supply, in Lufkin and Jasper, for Barko and Cummins parts. The machines are all in good shape, well used but well maintained. Oil and all filters get changed once monthly, and air filters are blown out
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at least every other week, depending on how dusty conditions are. Fittings are greased daily. Every week, operators fill out and turn in to the office a sheet tracking how much grease, oil and fuel each crew uses, on each machine. Though he keeps a few frequently needed and basic spare parts at the shop and in service trucks, he doesn’t believe in keeping a huge inventory of extra hydraulic hoses. “If you get too many they get dirty or lost and it’s wasted money,” he explains. “I try to keep one spare for each thing. About the only things we have to have a lot of hoses for are the loader bucket and the shear.” The crew handles most of the
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repairs. “If we have a problem, if a code comes up, we call Ronnie Hill, the shop service manager at Doggett. He tells us what to look for and 90% of the time we fix it ourselves. Very seldom do we have to send it to a shop.” Cunningham admits that Doggett’s willingness to help is a big reason he remains a loyal customer. To handle all those repairs, Cunningham has three work trucks, three welding trucks and, at his shop in Spurger, a full-time mechanic and a stand-by welder who comes out to the job sites if needed. The shop sits on 10 acres, where Cunningham also has container buildings for spare parts, and three fuel tanks: 10,000 gallons off-road diesel, 2,000 gallons on-road, and 500 gallons gasoline. Cunningham buys fuel for the Spurger volunteer fire dept. “I try to give back to the community, but with all this stuff I have going, I don’t have a lot of time to be part of the fire department, so I buy their fuel.”
History Though not a native Texan, Cunningham, as the saying goes, wasn’t born in the state but got there as fast as he could. He spent his first 12 years in Louisiana. After he finished 7th grade, he didn’t go back to
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school. That summer before what would have been his 8th grade year, he started working full-time in the woods for his dad, John Thomas. At just 12 years old, the young Cunningham was up at 4 a.m. to pick up the crew for work; by age 15, he was driving pulpwood loads to IP in Mansfield, La. In 1986, when Cunningham was 17, his dad sold it all and the family moved to Texas. He believes it was providential. “I say prayer brought us here,” he reflects. “My aunt was
praying for us. We weren’t serving the Lord then, but God has His way of leading us to the right place, lining events up in our lives.” In the Lone Star State, Cunningham worked for logger David Hatton and then ran a crew for Lavoy Eason for five years. Eason—another man of God who was featured in the November 2008 issue of SLT in an article entitled “Alter Call”— later sold Cunningham three pieces of equipment. “He took me under his wing and treated me like a son,”
Cunningham says. “I call him Pop to this day.” After cutting private wood under his own contracts for a few years, Cunningham reluctantly took the advice of another logger, Charles Spurlock, to work for Campbell Global, under Spurlock’s contract. Shortly thereafter, Spurlock folded his tent, took Cunningham to his boss at Campbell and told him, “I want you to give this guy my spot.” With the weight Spurlock carried at the time, Campbell did as he asked and
offered Cunningham the contract. Spurlock also offered to let Cunningham take over the note on some of the equipment he had parked, but the banker declined the deal. Cunningham prayed. “I said, ‘Lord, I don’t have the money to put down on this equipment. If You want me to have that equipment, You have that man call me and offer to do it with no money down.’ God’s truth, three days later that man at Citizen’s Bank in Woodville, Trey Allison, called me and said they’d finance the equipment for me, no money down. I used an old truck for collateral. So I walked in the bank and I asked him how it feels to be used by God.” A year and a half later, when the motor went out on the Tigercat cutter he bought from Spurlock, again, Cunningham asked the Lord what to do. “He spoke to my heart and told me to call the John Deere people.” Craig Lucky at Doggett offered to help him sell the machine to make a down payment on a replacement. “He said we’d have to have $55,000 for it: $30,000 to pay it off and $25,000 for a down payment on a new one.” The very next morning, the machine was sold, and a replacement was on the Cunningham job. Production climbed from 50 loads a week to 75. “I always had it in my heart that I wanted to get 20 loads a day; I think any logger does,” Cunningham says. “We kept pushing till we got there, by God’s grace. Now if we do 20 loads it is a bad day.”
Patriot “I have a burden for veterans,” Cunningham says. “My heart is to reach out to them.” On the second Saturday each month, his church feeds veterans. “I love veterans. This is the land of the free because of the brave and that is how I feel about it. My hat’s off to those guys and anything I can do to help them, I am all for it. Because they did what they did, we can do what we do today. We can be free to serve God, even though our religious freedom is being attacked, because of God and the U.S. military. That is how I look at it.” He continues, “I don’t get into politics, but I believe in what’s right and wrong. I support President Trump. Even though I didn’t like Obama when he was in office, I prayed for him every day. The Bible tells me to pray for my leaders and that is my duty to my country, and I am sure praying for this country. One thing I love about Mike Pence: he is a Holy Ghost-filled man. I thank God every day that he is in there to stand with Trump. When you put God in anything, you can’t SLT go wrong.” 12
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Post-Michael ■ The salvage effort has been as difficult as everybody expected.
By Patrick Dunning
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Michael salvage: an overwhelming task
stimates of successful wood salvage on timberland damaged by Hurricane Michael along the Florida Panhandle and southwest Georgia range from 10-16%, according to some authorities; meanwhile some logging outfits have scrambled to contribute to the salvage effort. Making landfall on October 10, 2018 near Mexico Beach in Bay County, Fla., the Category 5 hurricane speared the Gulf Coast with 155-160 MPH winds, leaving some communities still draped in blue tarp and desolate. The Forest Inventory and Analysis Program (FIA), which will include U.S Forest Service assessments in areas affected by the storm, could conclude as early as March, providing a before and after footprint on timber plots. Initial reports by Florida Forest Service estimated the value of timber damage at $1.3 billion, pillaging more than 2.8 million acres of forestland either catastrophically (347,000 acres), severely (1.04 million acres) or moderately (1.4 million acres). More specifically, FFS said the
storm impacted 500 million trees, 16,000 private landowners and 233 communities (about 4.4 years of annual forest harvest in Florida). The three counties most affected by the storm in the Panhandle were Bay, Calhoun and Gulf, but Gadsden, Jackson, Liberty, Franklin, Holmes, Leon, Wakulla and Washington counties also received damage. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nicole (Nikki) Fried announced that the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture has allocated $380.7 million in federal block grant funding for Florida farmers devastated by Hurricane Michael, including direct relief for timber producers. The Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services will administer the USDA block grants alongside the Florida Div. of Emergency Management. FFS said more than 1.6 million acres of pine was damaged, along with 697,000 acres of mixed upland stands, and 503,000 acres of bottomland. Georgia Forestry Commission estimated nearly 2.4 million acres of forestland impacted and approximately 38 million tons of timber valued at $763 million damaged by the storm, including
Whether keeping pace with markets or simply lending a helping hand, loggers found the going rough.
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Merchandizing the logs from the debris required a total commitment.
20.5 million tons of pine and 17.2 million tons of hardwood. Scott Griffin, Forest Management Chief of GFC, says the salvage effort concluded in spring 2019 for the most part. “A lot of the wood deteriorated after a
while,” he says. “What we’re seeing now is internal damage. Combine dry season with pine bark beetles attacking stressed trees and you get unviable stands.” Griffin, who helped lead the charge following the storm, says high volumes
of wood on the ground limited the markets. Moving forward, GFC will continue to manage standing timber in moderately damaged areas. Catastrophic damage was documented for 79,456 acres of forestland from south of Albany to Lake Seminole, representing a loss of 2.2 million tons of pine and 1.8 million tons of hardwood valued at $80.5 million. Severe damage was documented for 296,112 acres of forestland from south Albany to near Bainbridge. Damages total an estimated loss of 6.4 million tons of pine and 5.3 million tons of hardwood. Those affected the worst in Georgia include Seminole, Miller, Baker, Dougherty, Lee and Crisp counties, while Decatur, Mitchell, Worth, Early, Calhoun, Sumter and other counties experienced damages. David Dickens, PH.D., Forest Productivity professor at the University of Georgia, anticipates a
final salvage rate of 16% with percentages fluctuating in Alabama and Florida. “We were hoping to get 25% recovered in stands but there weren’t enough trees,” he says. Dickens was on the forefront of the salvage effort after Hurricane Hugo in 1989, where he says a significant portion of wood was recovered.
On The Ground SLT reached out to logging operators and landowners affected by Hurricane Michael in northwest Florida and southwest Georgia more than one year after to see how they’ve been coping. Charles Ives, a logging operator based in Quitman, Ga., says as terrible as Michael was, it had a positive spin. “It had gotten so wet there was nowhere left for us to work,” he says. “It gave us something to do because we didn’t have anywhere else to go.” There was initial hesitation to travel to the west side of the state to Baker County but continual rain following the storm forced their hand so they took a track loader and track cut-down machine to the devastation zone, which gave them a
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Landowner assistance programs are available.
slight advantage. “A lot of us waited and didn’t go at the very start,” Ives says. “We kept saying we weren’t going to get involved over there but we ended up going. Markets were low on inventory due to wet conditions which resulted in getting paid higher rates for storm wood.” He believes a lot of the salvage effort has since resided due to blue stain. Tract conditions weren’t easy on his equipment either. “The ground was really bad and picking up stray limbs was like sifting through Pixy Stix,” Ives recalls. Sitting just outside the path where peak wind gusts occurred, Ricky Anderson, owner of Ander-
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son Logging Inc., in Temple, Ga., says he still feels some discomfort. In his efforts to help clean damaged areas southbound, Anderson says the accessible timber is still a burden. “The mills don’t like twisted wood, you have to do a lot of saw work and it’s aggravating,” he says. “And it’s only good for so long.” Anderson has downsized his operation from two crews to one to better bend with the economy. “I had an opportunity to sell my other outfit, but I didn’t. I’m seeing a lot of loggers go out of business.” Logging foreman Jacob Paschal, Albany, Ga., says their chipping operation hasn’t taken a lot of days off since the storm hit. “We had a
lot of storm wood we were on, the problem was, there was nowhere to deliver the wood,” he says. “West Georgia got hit hard and we had ample opportunity to go over there and chip all day but there’s not a lot of opportunities to sell it.” Paschal says some hauls averaged 80-100 miles. Loggers are still actively digging up pine stumps in some places. But, he says most local mills have stopped receiving storm wood due to blue stain and bark slippage. Keith Dunson, procurement contractor for Havana Logging Co., Havana, Fla., says looking at what the storm did just a few hours after was devastating. “I mean, you’re talking about 5 million dollars worth of timber under contract being completely wiped out.” His core timber buying area sits in the four-county area that suffered the most destruction. It took about one month to get situated because most of their loggers’ homes were damaged. “Our guys had to get their lives in
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order before they could help other people,” Dunson says. “A lot of them didn’t have a place to lay their head, we’d let them use our equipment to get limbs off their houses and patch roofs.” They then dispatched five crews outside the catastrophic zone, and four inside. “We had help all around, had some track and swamp crews helping in the wet areas and we just cut what standing wood was available.” Aside from the reforestation efforts taking place on company land, one problem Dunson sees moving forward is the well-being of private landowners. “There’s very little revenue available to the landowner because they took a beating on stumpage,” he says. “Finding new stumpage in the future will be tough, we’re going to have to pan out further.” Troy Walden, owner of Walden Timber Harvesting Inc., Altha, Fla., had gotten out of the business shortly before the storm hit, but was enticed by the opportunity to recover storm wood. “There was about 30 million worth of timber damage in my area,” Walden says. The storm wood market was good shortterm, Walden says, but believes all the salvage timber that can be utilized, has already been. “I hate to
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say it but all the wood that’s left is rotted. They’re doing all they can but this damaged timber is going to hurt the industry down the road.” Walden notes a small patch of relief is Apalachicola National Forest selling tracts. But even then, he says that won’t last long. Located in Perry, Fla., Jamie Boland, owner of Boland Timber Co., says they were east enough not to receive any damage. The issue his crews experienced were in lending a helping hand. “We figured out
really quick we couldn’t help like we wanted to,” he says. After sending a crew to Calhoun County, finding places to stay and gas stations were hard to come by. The market in the devastation area was bad, and Boland says he’s felt some of those strains bleeding over in the last six months; especially since some of the salvage efforts reverted to pushing slash wood aside and getting strictly leaning wood. Dewayne Sheppard, a used equipment dealer and logging oper-
ator based in Havana, Fla., also suffered losses because of the storm’s impact. With production down 30%, his attempt to capitalize on storm wood was temporary. “The mills offered us more money but it didn’t add up in the long run,” he says. Wewahitchka, Fla. was one of the hardest hit by the storm, sitting in Gulf County. Ted Whitfield, timber dealer of Whitfield Timber Co., says there’s a high percentage of long-term damage surrounding the region. “It overwhelmed the com-
munity,” Whitfield says. Currently working through a 25% loss in production, Whitfield is just trying to recover what he can. “Most of the timber is gone, that’s the biggest problem moving forward,” he believes. Of the landowners Whitfield knows, he says no one has received any financial compensation yet. He is hopeful it could come as soon as Quarter 1, 2020.
Funding Relief Farm Service Agency has a costshare program called the Emergency Forest Restoration Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to assist private landowners in restoring land damaged by Hurricane Michael. Cost-share payments cover up to 75% of approved restoration practices and limited to $500,000 per person or legal entity. The application process for timber producers to receive grant funding is being finalized. Through consistent engagement with USDA officials, Florida secured nearly half of the $800 million in federal block grant funding announced for Florida, Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina disaster relief programs. The funds will compensate timber producers for lost value of their crop damaged by Hurricane Michael, helping them clear downed trees and replant. Block grant funding will also help producers repair and replace irrigation infrastructure damage from Hurricane Michael. “This funding is a huge victory for Florida’s timber producers, whose resilience in the year following Hurricane Michael has been extraordinary,” Fried says. “Our priority will be moving this funding forward so that timber producers can have checks in hand and trees in the ground. Thank you to the USDA and Secretary Perdue for helping us put Florida’s farmers first.” Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law the Forest Debris Management Program, an emergency disaster relief initiative assisting cleanup efforts and funding to those impacted in the 28county area. As of December 1, 2019, approximately 35% or 60,000 acres have been certified for cleanup by GFC. “We appreciate the efforts of forest landowners who have been dealing with the challenges of storm fallout and cleanup,” Georgia Forestry Commission Director Chuck Williams says. “One of our main goals, to keep forests as forests, remains a top priority.” SLT All photos accompanying this article are courtesy of Florida Forest Service.
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Legacy ■ Reid Logging was Alabama’s 2019 Logger of the Year.
By Joel Moon, Alabama Loggers Council GEORGIANA, Ala. ith a keen eye to the future while celebrating a ★ successful past, third generation loggers Stacy Reid, 51, and his brother David, 48, enter the ninth decade of their family’s business, Reid Logging Co., Inc., with the same “can do” attitude as Judson Reid, their grandfather and the company’s founder. The Reids have adapted to dramatic changes in the industry and the resource by embracing state-of-the-art technology and using well-developed people skills to foster professional employees. Fun fact: today Stacy and David Reid haul as many tons in one hour as their grandfather could haul in a week in his era. When Judson founded Reid Logging Co. (RLC) in 1940, he worked with mules, but the company evolved with the industry. In 1965, Judson’s son Shelton became the proprietor of the company. He married Linda Patrick in 1967 and raised their sons, Stacy and David. Though they had progressed to using skidders by the time he took
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over, Shelton does remember the mules. They had a mule named Charlie that would climb into the bed of a pickup; no one had to back into a bank for him. “Back then nobody messed with your stuff in the woods,” Shelton recalls. “We would take the mules out on Monday and keep them in a pen when they weren’t working. We would take feed and water to them.” David jokes, “It was like taking fuel and grease to the woods today.” When they got their first loader and started using a chain saw, Shelton knew, “It was on then.”
Third Generation Stacy and David spent their childhood around the business, though Stacy jokes that early on they were more like the maintenance crew. “We didn’t watch cartoons on Saturday morning. We had a five-gall. grease bucket with a 25 ft. hose and we’d carry it around and grease all the trucks and loader. Family time at night was fixing tires or coon hunting with dad.” As they got older, both worked under Shelton’s guidance as operators on the crew. Stacy came on
Brothers David, left, and Stacy Reid, with their dad Shelton, middle
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board in 1986; David followed in 1989. Both earned AAS (Associate of Applied Science) forestry degrees in 1992 at what is now Lurleen B. Wallace Community College in Andalusia, Ala. The brothers officially took over the company in 2005, but they still rely on advice from their dad, who is now retired. In addition to their forestry degrees, David and Stacy have years of experience in performing harvesting prescriptions according to management plans, and have had immediate access to registered foresters in cases where another opinion is needed. All this has allowed them to practice the highest standards of southern forest management. RLC is fully committed to SFI principles, including state BMPs. The owners and six key employees have trained under Alabama’s Professional Logging Manager (PLM) program. David, Stacy and Shelton are members of the Alabama Forestry Assn., allowing them to obtain workers’ comp insurance through the Forest Fund for each of the companies. Today Reid Logging consists of four logging crews performing first and second thinnings, clear-cuts and storm salvage.
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The third generation Reids have come a long way from the mules their granddad used when he started the company 80 years ago.
The brothers started Southern Extreme Transport almost three years ago.
Thinning Over the years the Reids have contracted for Rocky Creek Logging, Union Camp Corp., International Paper and Reynolds Forestry, and now for Resource Management Service (RMS). That relationship, the brothers say, has been outstanding, as RMS embraces many of the goals that are important to Reid Logging, including superior environmental standards. Early on both brothers said they fought “tooth and nail” to not do first thinnings. They knew from experience that it is hard to keep load weights up with small wood. In 2005, Keith Luker with RMS informed them of the management prescription for the forests they were working: first thin around 12 years old and grow saw timber. Luker asked them to figure out how to make it work, so in typical Reid fashion that is exactly what they did. “When we started doing first thinnings we were getting half the number of loads that our clear-cut crews were getting, and they were all light loads,” David says.“So we got with IP and explained that we needed help with unloading. That’s when IP allowed us to invert some butts to the back. It takes a little longer to load but it allowed us to get our weights back up.” Along with purchasing plantation trailers, within a year or so of starting first thinnings, they went to bigger skidders and bigger grapples to keep the loader busy. Another issue was a bottleneck at the loader. They had to pick up each little stem to get the limbs off with a pullthrough delimber. The addition of a Chambers Deliminator solved that bottleneck. These days, 12 years later, they don’t run the Delimbinators as much, David says, “Because the loaders have gotten a lot faster and we have adapted and learned.” Stacy adds, “Sometimes you have to run it [the Delimbinator] because you want the loader to pick up a good pile and be able to put it straight on the trailer.” When they are thinning 12-14 year old stands they can use the pullthrough delimber, but in younger stands Stacy says, “The Delimbinator
With four crews, the Reids resisted thinning at first, but learned to adapt to and even embrace it.
From left: Frank Likely, Randy Matthews, Brandy Gaskin, Jonathan Tolbert, Alex Weathers, Andy Boseman, Pat Shealy, Richard Skipper, Pat Wilson, Fred Curry, Tommy Bush, Charles Ray
L to R: Tony Pierce, Bubba Quates, Warren Cobb
Troy Braden, Calvin "Cap" Henderson, Ricky Sellers
Levi Ray, Derrick Williams, Dewayne Gomillion
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Left to right: Clint Godwin, Mitch Ayers, Jesse Joyner
is the greatest thing ever.” The Reids say they have definitely made their living thinning in the last 12 years.
Harvesting RLC has worked with a three-man crew configuration (feller-buncher, skidder, loader) for the past several years.With the advent of onboard delimbers on loaders, the need for personnel on the ground with chain saws has been eliminated. The use of a Chambers Delimbinator in first thinning jobs has further eliminated the need for delimbing gates in those cuts, and significantly reduced the use of the onboard delimbers, allowing a significant increase in production on a daily basis.
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Jonathan Bush, Donald Hall, Carnel Wilson
For equipment, the crews use four full-time skidders—a John Deere 848H and two 748Ls and a Tigercat 630—with three Deere 848H spares for additional skidding capacity when needed; four John Deere 437 loaders and another as a spare; four Tigercat 720 feller-bunchers; and three Chambers Delimbinators. In mid-2017 David and Stacy formed a separate trucking company, Southern Extreme Transport, LLC. It includes 15 trucks and 19 log trailers of various configurations. They also began doing contract road work in 2009 and maintain a fleet of different types of road equipment, including dump trucks, dozers, a motor grader, front end loaders, excavator, backhoe, street sweeper and boom mower.
Tony Skipper, Earnet Mobley, Ricky McCoy
SET runs 12 Peterbilts, with a Kenworth and a Mack. Three contract haulers supplement hauling capacity. All trailers are of lightweight construction to maximize load weights. Trailers are standard four bolster, plantation and pole configurations. Majority are Pitts, with three Magnolia pole trailers, and for spares, two Magnolia and two Sun Mfg. plantations. All trucks and trailers are equipped with onboard scales to maintain legal weights, but more importantly eliminate underweight loads. Loader operators have participated in mill tours and unloading facilities to minimize unloading issues and maximize merchandizing of products. All equipment is maintained at
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manufacturer-designated intervals and periodically steam cleaned. Hours on RLC equipment and mileages on SET trucks are recorded each week and reported to maintenance personnel for scheduled service and repair. A work order system is in place for repair scheduling. All servicing and most repairs are done in-house.
Safety RLC and SET practice and enforce all aspects of in-woods and transportation safety required to maintain the safest work environment for all employees. This is accomplished by periodic safety meetings, random safety checks and observations on the
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crews, first aid training for everyone and general discussions with individuals. Trucks can be monitored at all times via GPS locators showing location, travel routes and speed. The loaders feature Lexan windows because of an incident in which a Chambers Delimbinator threw a chain link that shattered a glass window in a loader and struck the operator. Operators also use two-way radio communication. On the transportation side, safety features include onboard scales on all
trucks, disc brakes on trucks and trailers, tire inflation maintenance systems on all trailers and pole saws instead of chain saws for load trimming. All drivers perform walk around inspections daily as required by DOT. RLC is looking at and will soon implement dash cams for all vehicles. To incentivize safety, semiannual bonuses are paid for safe work practices. RLC and SET have very little employee turnover, and the owners credit that in large meaasure to the
long-term commitment of both companies to safe operation.
Crews Three supervisors and two clericals handle both RLC and SET. RLC has four crew leaders—they like to call them quarterbacks—with eight equipment operators and two in repair/maintenance, who also help in the SET shop. SET has 13 drivers and a shop mechanic. Both RLC and SET offer company assisted health
insurance to employees. They also provide employees the opportunity to purchase other types of insurance such as dental, vision and accident. “Any of the growth we have experienced would not have occurred without our employees,” Stacy says. “You can’t expect to turn out professional work without professional employees.” RLC has many long time employees; one, Calvin (Cap) Henderson, has been with three generations of Reids for over 50 years. Stacy says he took a lot more orders from Cap than from his dad. “Cap doesn’t worry about hurting your feelings,” David says. “Cap tells you what you were doing wrong, tells you how to do it, and tells you to get it done.” Turnover is relatively low overall. They employ several young operators with the potential for many years of service. The Reid brothers recently hired Meagan Cook as the primary bookkeeper, though Linda is still involved in office tasks at the main headquarters in Georgiana. The future is bright for Reid, but not without its obstacles. “Labor is the biggest challenge, make no mistake about it,” David believes. “I don’t see it getting any easier, and it’s not just in the logging business.” Stacy adds, “Part of it is people’s work ethic. Many of our long-time employees grew up on a farm and know how to run equipment and work long hours. Things are different now. We don’t go to work at 8 and get off at 4. What we have going for us is there are some good paying jobs in forestry. To attract and retain employees we have gotten our own health insurance program and are getting a financial planner to look at setting up retirement plans.” In the spring of 2019 RLC sponsored the Forest Workforce Training Institute’s Logging Equipment Operator School in nearby Greenville. Students spent their “seat time” with a Reid crew, operating a skidder, loader and bulldozer. With many of their employees reaching retirement age in the next few years, the Reids would like to see the forest industry at all levels help solve this critical employee shortage. RLC generously contributes to Log-A-Load for Kids. David and Stacy have participated in fund raising functions in the Longleaf District of the Alabama Loggers Council. Reid Logging also supports the local volunteer fire departments. Following Hurricane Ivan’s landfall, RLC provided equipment and operators to aid the SLT county in cleanup. NOTE: A version of this article previously ran in the 2019 Holiday Issue of the Alabama Forestry Assn.’s Alabama Forests Magazine. Photos by Ashley Whittle Tiedt.
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kind—like a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon. At a Special Olympics track meet, a young girl had The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by just won the 50-yard dash and was jumping up and somebody with a great sense of humor, state that after down all excited. She yelled out to her parents, “Look, you drink it, ‘a loose watery bowel movement mom and dad, I won.” may result.’ This is kind of like saying that after you Her parents instantly burst into tears. jump off your roof, you may experience contact with At the awards ceremony the young girl proudly the ground. stood there as a medal was placed around her neck. MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don’t want to be too Then she ran over to her parents, who were crying graphic here, but: Have you ever seen a space-shuttle now even more than before. The three of them hugged launch? This is pretty much the MoviPrep experience, as the parents kept crying. with you as the shuttle. There are times when you wish A Special Olympics official who had watched all the commode had a seat belt. You spend several hours this became concerned and went over to the parents pretty much confined to the bathroom, spurting violentand said, “Excuse me, is there anything wrong?” ly. You eliminate everything. And then, when you figThrough her tears, the mother said, “No, nothing’s ure you must be totally empty, you have to drink anothwrong. Everything’s right! We just heard our daughter er liter of MoviPrep at which point, as far as I can tell, speak for the first time.” your bowels travel into the future and start eliminating This is what happens when you give Red food that you have not even eaten yet. Bull to an overzealous woodpecker. After an action-packed evening, I finally got to sleep. The next morning my wife drove me to the clinic. I was very The rain was pouring down, but there the old Irishman was, standing in nervous. Not only was I worried about the procedure, but I had been expefront of a small fountain outside the pub. He was holding a stick that had a riencing occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage. I was thinking, piece of line dangling in the water. “What if I spurt on Andy?” How do you apologize to a friend for someA passer-by stopped and asked, “What are you doing?” thing like that? Flowers would not be enough. “Fishing,” replied the old man in a weak, trembling voice. At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I understood Feeling sorry for the old man, the gent said, “Come in out of the rain and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said. Then they led and have a drink with me.” me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I went inside a little In the warmth of the pub, as they sipped their whiskies, the gent, being a curtained space and took off my clothes and put on one of those hospital bit of a smart aleck, could not resist asking, “So how many have you garments designed by sadist perverts, the kind that, when you put it on, caught today?” makes you feel even more naked than when you are actually naked. Then The old man shot back, “You’re the eighth.” a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my left hand. Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, and I was already lying down. Eddie also told me that some people put vodka in their MoviPrep. At first I was ticked off that I hadn’t thought of this, but then I (The following is attributed to Dave Barry, an author and humor columpondered what would happen if you got your self too tipsy to make it to nist for the Miami Herald.) the bathroom, so you were staggering around in full Fire Hose Mode. You I called my friend Andy Sable, a gastroenterologist, to make an appointwould have no choice but to burn your house. ment for a colonoscopy. A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a When everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure color diagram of the colon, a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist. I did place, at one point passing briefly through Minneapolis. Andy then not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden around there explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, reassuring and somewhere. I was seriously nervous at this point. Andy had me roll over patient manner. I nodded thoughtfully, but I didn’t really hear anything he on my left side and the anesthesiologist began hooking something up to said, because my brain was shrieking, quote, “HE’S GOING TO STICK A the needle in my hand. There was music playing in the room, and I realTUBE 17,000 FEET UP MY BEHIND!” ized that the song was ‘Dancing Queen’ by Abba. I remarked to Andy that, I left Andy’s office with some written instructions, and a prescription for of all the songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, a product called MoviPrep, which comes in a box large enough to hold a ‘Dancing Queen’ has to be the least appropriate. microwave oven. “You want me to turn it up?” asked Andy, from somewhere behind me. I will discuss MoviPrep in detail later; for now suffice it to say that we “Ha ha,” I said. And then it was time, the moment I had been dreading for must never allow it to fall into the hands of America’s more than a decade. If you are squeamish, prepare yourenemies. self, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail, I spent the next several days productively sitting exactly what it was like. around being nervous. Then, on the day before my I have no idea. Really. I slept through it. One colonoscopy, I began my preparation. In moment, Abba was shrieking “Dancing Queen! Feel accordance with my instructions, I didn’t eat any solid the beat from the tambourine” and the next moment, I food that day; all I had was chicken broth, which is was back in the other room, waking up in a very melbasically water, only with less flavor. Then, in low mood. Andy was looking down at me and asking the evening, I took the MoviPrep. You mix two packets me how I felt. I felt excellent. I felt even more excellent of powder together in a one-liter plastic jug, and then when Andy told me that it was all over, and that my you fill it with lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar colon had passed with flying colors. I have never been with the metric system, a liter is about 32 gallons.) prouder of an internal organ. Then you have to drink the whole jug. This takes about (I would say ‘Cheers’, but somehow the expression an hour, because MoviPrep tastes—and here I am being ‘Up Yours’ has a more appropriate ring to it).
A Very Special Victory
Irish Fishing
Colonoscopy Adventure
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Friday-Saturday May 1-2, 2020 Richmond Raceway Complex
600 E. Laburnum Ave. Richmond, VA 23222
Make plans today to participate in the 37th East Coast Sawmill & Logging Exposition and take in the East Coast’s largest array of sawmill, pallet, logging, biomass and related machinery, supplies and services. Invest in your future and grow your business. ● More than 300 inside & outside exhibits ● Convenient access ● Plenty of parking ● Log loader contest
● See machinery in action! ● 1 entry fee, 2-day admission
● Pre-expo workshops
Visit www.ExpoRichmond.com to register before April 17, 2020 to receive the special rate of $10. After April 17th, admission is $20 per person. Spouses and children under 18 are admitted with paying adults. An educational course on Wood Anatomy ($100) will be held off-site on Thursday, April 30. For more informaition or to register, visit www.exporichmond.com or www.sim.sbio.vt.edu/?page_id=2616
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INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP interstate highways with state As We See It: Looking Ahead to 2020 eral legal weight limits that would enable By Danny Dructor As we enter the New Year, members of the American Loggers Council will stay the course in attempting to provide meaningful representation to those who Dructor
are involved in the daily business of harvesting and hauling unrefined forest products. The ALC will continue seeking reforms to federal DOT regulations that prohibit us from accessing our fed-
us to haul safer and more efficiently to the mills that we supply. The ALC will continue to press members of Congress to support and enact legislation that would give our 16- and 17-year-old sons and daughters the legal right to work under parental supervision in logging businesses that will be eventually handed
down to them, creating the next generation of professional loggers. The ALC will continue to educate both the administration and lawmakers on the need to create parity between agriculture and logging so that we can be a part of the discussions when natural disasters strike, or tariffs are levied on our products, causing our markets to diminish. The ALC will continue to work with like-minded organizations like the Federal Forest Resource Coalition and the U.S. Forest Service to help implement Farm Bill authorities that will create efficiencies allowing the Forest Service to do “more with less” making more timber from federal lands available for harvest. The ALC will continue its work with Team Safe Trucking to try to improve safety on our roads and highways by promoting driver training and meeting with insurers to help reduce the number of accidents with the end goal to improve insurance rates for those who are doing things right. The ALC will once again represent professional timber harvesters and haulers as the SFI program goes through its revision process, making certain that our voices are heard around the table as to how potential changes might impact your business. 2020 will certainly have its challenges in Washington, DC as all eyes are now focusing on the November elections, but there remains a lot of unfinished business that needs to be taken care of, either through legislation or administrative actions that could benefit all of you who are helping to supply the nation’s wood fiber needs. We also know that there will be new opportunities and challenges that will emerge this year and we will do our best to address them as they emerge. We thank you for your support in 2019, and look forward to serving you in 2020. Danny Dructor is Executive Vice President of the American Loggers Council, a 501 (c)(6) not for profit trade organization representing professional timber harvesters throughout the United States. Contact American Loggers Council at 409-625-0206, or americanlogger@aol.com, or visit the website: www.amloggers.com
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HEADS UP! Mid-Atlantic L-B-L Expo
2021
April 30-May 1
Near Laurinburg, NC
DEEPER, WIDER FOOTPRINT Details As They Develop
Jack Swanner, Show Manager • 828.421.8444 SPONSORS:
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Is Dogwood Alliance For Climate Change? A Future Forest + Jobs analysis of a Dogwood Alliance report finds that Dogwood’s policy recommendations would reduce carbon sequestration by 35%, shrink forest area, and eliminate more than 70,000 jobs in North Carolina. “These groups care more about attacking the forest products and
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bioenergy sectors than making smart, scientifically-supported climate and energy policy,” comments Brian Rogers, spokesman for Future Forest + Jobs. “The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other leading climate science authorities have repeatedly confirmed that renewable wood bioenergy like that harvested in North Carolina plays a vital role in replacing fossil fuels and meeting the great challenge of global climate change.”
In collaboration with the Oregonbased Center for Sustainable Economy (CSE), the Dogwood Alliance examined the carbon impact of North Carolina’s forest products industry. Dogwood/CSE concluded that “industrial logging” was the state’s third–largest source of emissions and advocated for a massive government intervention into private land ownership in order to maximize carbon sequestration from North Carolina’s forestland.
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According to Future Forest + Jobs, citing a review of the Dogwood/CSE study by the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI), a nonprofit that provides scientific research about the forest products industry, Dogwood/CSE’s report is full of “analytical errors and significant omissions and oversights.” First, NCASI finds that the Dogwood/CSE study makes incorrect assumptions about “nature’s baseline” carbon sequestration. Dogwood/CSE advocates for mandating that forests grow into old-growth, mature conditions, and assume that forests in such mature conditions necessarily sequester more carbon. But as NCASI notes, Dogwood/ CSE’s assumption failed to take into account “a wide range of natural disturbances that can result in substantial carbon emissions” including forest fires and insects. NCASI also explains how “active forest management can reduce the risk of and effects from natural disturbances.” Second, the Dogwood/CSE study claims that clear–cuts are “carbon sequestration dead zones.” As NCASI explains, this too is false, and is based on the current inability to measure sequestration “in young, rapidly growing forests.” Just because we have trouble measuring young forests—which are rapidly sucking carbon dioxide from the air during early growth— does not mean there is a “dead zone” of sequestration. NCASI also notes that undermining forestry could reduce carbon sequestration by causing landowners to turn to development or agriculture. They note that “denying private forest landowners the ability to actively manage their forests incentivizes
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them to convert forests to these types of other land uses.” Third, the Dogwood/CSE study assumes that “regenerating forests sequester carbon more slowly than older forest stands.” As NCASI notes, “It is widely known that young forests sequester carbon more rapidly than older forests, so replacement of an older forest with a younger one means more annual sequestration per acre, not less.” In fact, NCASI finds that private
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forests in North Carolina are removing 61 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere every year. If all of North Carolina’s 15.6 million acres of private forests were at “Nature’s Baseline” of stands aged more than 100 years old, these forests would remove approximately 40 million tons annually, a decrease of almost 35%. Fourth, the Dogwood/CSE study makes numerous math errors, including double-counting logging
residues and “basic computational errors” in carbon sequestration rates. Dogwood Alliance/CSE make two overall recommendations in their study: first, they discuss the benefits of longer forest rotation periods, even rotations as long as 90 years. Second, they advocate for massive government regulation on private landowners to force them to maintain their forests into maturity. Both of these recommendations would effectively
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nationalize most of North Carolina’s 17.9 million acres of timberland, as 85% of North Carolina forests are held by private landowners or companies, according to North Carolina State University. Either policy recommendation would shrink forests. A 90–year rotation would decimate forest products markets by increasing the amount of time trees must remain in the ground. This would drastically reduce the turnover of working forests and would by extension cut the incomes of forest workers. For instance, assuming a standard pine plantation rotation of around 30 years, a 90–year rotation would slash the number of available forest removals by two–thirds. In North Carolina, forest product workers make an average of around $51,000 annually. Reducing their income by two–thirds would bring their income down to around $17,000 annually—that’s below, for instance, the average income of farmers in North Carolina, who make nearly $40,500 each year. Thus, mandating longer rotations would likely have the exact opposite effect intended by Dogwood/CSE, assuming that landowners operate as rational economic actors. Instead of growing forests, Dogwood/CSE’s mandate would encourage landowners to switch from forestry to other more carbonintensive, income-producing alternatives such as farming, cattle ranching, or selling off their land for development. All of these would have adverse climate effects, as they would completely eliminate forest acreage. Second, a more complete mandate that trees not be rotated at all could have even more disastrous effects. It would reduce landown-
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ers’ income generating-potential to zero. This would instantly force landowners—many of whom rely on the income generated by their land—to these other carbon-intensive alternatives. As North Carolina State University finds, the forest products industry is a critical sector for North Carolina. Forest products manufacturing directly employs over 70,000 people and supports more than 144,000 jobs statewide. The forest products industry generates nearly $1 billion in state, local and federal tax revenues, and it provides an income for the state’s 469,000 families and private associations that represent 61% of the state’s forest acreage. Future Forests + Jobs (FFJ) is an initiative of the U.S. Industrial Pellet Association (USIPA), a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit trade association which advocates for the renewable wood energy sector as a sustainable, low-carbon power source.
Resolute Purchases Three SYP Sawmills Resolute Forest Products Inc. entered into an agreement to acquire Conifex Timber Inc.’s three
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sawmills in the U.S. South for $163 million plus working capital delivered at closing, which is currently estimated at $7 million. The three sawmills, with combined production capacity of 550MMBF, are located in Cross City, Fla. and Glenwood and El Dorado, Ark. “This transaction will provide immediate scale in the attractive U.S. South, with quality assets in a rich fiber basket, close to growing endmarkets,” says Yves Laflamme, president and CEO. “Scaling our lumber business forms a key part of our stated transformation strategy. This transaction will also diversify our lumber production. When operating to capacity, almost 25% of our production will be in the U.S. South.” Production capacity for Cross City is 185MMBF and it is currently operating on a two-shift basis. Glenwood’s capacity is also 185MMBF and it is operating on a 1.5 shift basis. The El Dorado mill, with capacity of 180MMBF, was recently idled. Resolute intends to build on Conifex’s significant capital investments in recent years, including $55 million invested in El Dorado, $23 million in Glenwood and $12 million in Cross City. In November Conifex Timber
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announced that the Agent for its lumber segment lenders approved in principle Conifex’s proposed asset divestment and restructuring plan.
Pinnacle Teams With Sawmills Pinnacle’s new pellet mill will be built near and in partnership with the new Two Rivers Lumber sawmill in Demopolis, Ala., which started up in 2017. Pinnacle Renewable Energy plans to build an industrial wood pellet production facility in the Southeast U.S. at Demopolis, Ala., in close proximity to its Aliceville, Ala. facility. The new mill will be located adjacent an existing large sawmill in Demopolis. The Demopolis facility is expected to have annual production volume of 360,000 metric tons that will be sold through Pinnacle’s contracted backlog of long-term, takeor-pay off-take contracts. Commissioning the Demopolis facility with initial industrial wood pellet production is expected in the second quarter of 2021. The Demopolis facility will operate under a single partnership with Pinnacle, The Westervelt Company
Pinnacle’s new pellet mill will be built near and in partnership with the new Two Rivers Lumber sawmill in Demopolis, Ala., shown here, which started up in 2017.
(TWC), and Two Rivers Lumber Company, LLC (TRL), holding a 70%, 20% and 10% interest, respectively. TWC will sell a 10% interest of its currently held 30% interest in the Aliceville facility to TRL. Under the terms of the partnership, Pinnacle will operate the Demopolis facility and manage all aspects of customer relations, marketing, sales and logistics. Anticipated capital costs to construct the Demopolis facility is expected to be US$99 million.
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The Demopolis facility, to be located on the same river system as the Aliceville facility, will be constructed to ensure finished pellets can be barged and loaded at the port in Mobile, Ala., which is the same port used for pellets produced at the Aliceville facility. The Demopolis facility is currently in the final stages of design and construction planning and permit applications have commenced. Longterm fiber supply agreements ➤ 45
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PRINT CLASSIFIED AD RATES: Print advertising rates are $50 per inch. Space is available by column inch only, one inch minimum. DEADLINES: Ad reservation must be received by 10th of month prior to month of publication. Material must be received no later than 12th of month prior to month of publication.
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Ready To Place Your Classified Ad? Call 334-699-7837, 800-669-5613 or email class@southernloggintimes.com for print ads.
In addition to new machines, CHAMBERS DELIMBINATOR, INC. now has factory reconditioned DeLimbinators. These units have been inspected, repaired, and updated as 2014 CAT 559C, with CSI 264 Ultra, Hyd needed. Call us and we will help you select trailer, New long block from CAT with 1 a DeLimbinator for your need.
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38 ➤ have been completed with the majority of suppliers, including TWC and TRL. “Building on our early success at the Aliceville facility, which is currently producing wood pellets ahead of the commissioning curve, we are pleased to be expanding our presence in the U.S. Southeast and leveraging the existing relationships and infrastructure we have established in the area,” says Rob McCurdy, CEO of Pinnacle. “The U.S. Southeast expansion further aligns the company with our partners and fiber suppliers and allows
for flexibility to optimize fiber flow between the facilities, while further diversifying our business in the region, which will see approximately 660,000 MTPA of pellet production once fully commissioned.” Brian Luoma, President and CEO of The Westervelt Company, adds, “Since we began working with Pinnacle last year at the Aliceville mill, we have built a strong partnership based on our shared commitment to safety, quality, environmental responsibility and our communities. This new venture with Pinnacle and Two Rivers allows Westervelt to
participate in a growing market while capturing the advantages of the abundant resources in this area. Whether it’s industry experience, supply chain advantages or land management expertise, this partnership will benefit from the strengths of each of the companies involved.” Jay McElroy, President of TRL, comments, “We are excited to partner with Pinnacle and Westervelt in the expansion of their U.S. Southeast wood pellet production. Both organizations have great reputations and success stories. This partnership accomplishes our goal to further
expand our investment into wood products and build upon our businesses in the region.” Two Rivers Lumber, backed by logging firm Sumter Timber and trucking firm McElroy Trucking, started up its large production southern yellow pine sawmill in August 2017. Pinnacle currently operates eight industrial wood pellet production facilities in Western Canada and one in Alabama, with an additional facility under construction in Alberta. Additionally, Pinnacle owns a port terminal in Prince Rupert, BC.
MACHINES-SUPPLIES-TECHNOLOGY Tigercat 850 Roadside Processor The Tigercat 850 processor is a purpose–built roadside processor delivering outstanding performance and impressive fuel economy. Designed for high volume roadside processing, the Tigercat 850 offers many advantages including better service access, higher cooling capacity and processor head optimized hydraulics. The Tigercat FPT N67 engine delivers 159 kW (213 HP) at 2,100 rpm for Tier 2 and Tier 4f emission compliance. An efficient load sensing hydraulic system allows simultaneous machine and head functionality. The combination of high horsepower and harvester head optimized hydraulics lead to responsive con-
trol, quick feed speed and powerful delimbing capability for high productivity. A high capacity swing system with dual swing drives provides ample torque and speed for high performance processing. The powerful, strength-to-weight opti-
mized boom is designed specifically for processing and high stacking. Operator visibility is unmatched in the quiet, comfortable, ergonomically designed cab. The hooked boom design, and narrow side posts provide excellent righthand
side visibility. An integrated cab riser and the rearview camera system contributes to all-around visibility for the operator. Optimally positioned controls and a large touch screen display improve ergonomics and machine monitoring. Reduced noise levels help the operator enjoy the auxiliary audio input port, Bluetooth® audio and hands-free calling. Service access allows the ability to step down into the center of the machine for clear, unobstructed access to the engine and daily service points. Large enclosure doors and a service platform provide easy access to other service points. A large cast counterweight with a swing-out door allows access to the engine from the rear of the machine. Visit tigercat.com.
Winch/Tiedown Bar Strikes Driver’s Face BACKGROUND: On a dry summer morning in the Appalachians, a log trucker was binding down a load of pine pulpwood at the landing. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: The 57-year-old driver was a contract trucker with 30 years of bus driving and contract log hauling experience. He was considered capable and had no physical disabilities. He was wearing gloves as he began tightening one of the binder straps on a triaxle truck. UNSAFE ACTS AND CONDITIONS: The trucker was distracted as a crew member talked to him. He took his eye off the winch/tiedown bar and did not fully insert the bar into the ratcheting-wheel spindle as he was tightening the strap. His face was directly above the travel path of the winch bar.
ACCIDENT: When the driver pushed down with the weight of his body to apply the final turn to the spindle, the winch bar popped out of the spindle hole and catapulted backward. The end that was near the spindle struck his face. INJURY: The log trucker suffered a bloody nose and black eye. He received medical treatment and lost two days of work. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CORRECTION: ● Ensure that the winch/tiedown bar stays fully inserted into the spindle when tightening a binder strap. ● Make sure the cranking mechanism is working properly, and ensure that the ratchet pawl is fully engaged in the ratchet wheel. ● Always keep head and body away from the strike zone of the bar/handle.
● Wear
the required PPE—gloves, hard hat, and eye protection—when binding a load. ● Give full attention to the task at hand; stop if distracted. Supplied by Forest Resources Assn.
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COMING EVENTS February
April
7-9—South Carolina Timber Producers Assn. annual meeting, DoubleTree Resort by Hilton, Myrtle Beach, SC. Call 800-371-2240; visit scloggers.com.
7-9—Kentucky Forest Industries Assn. annual meeting, Brown Hotel, Louisville, Ky. Call 502-695-3979; visit kfia.org.
19-23—Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers annual meeting, Naples Grand Beach Resort, Naples, Fla. Call 336-885-8315; visit appalachianhardwood.org.
March 5-7—Southeastern Wood Producers Assn. annual meeting, Okefenokee Fairgrounds and Exchange Club, Waycross, Ga. Call 904-845-7133; visit swpa.ag. 6-8—Carolina Loggers Assn. annual meeting, Hotel Ballast, Wilmington, NC. Call 828-421-8444; visit ncloggers.com. 10-11—Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo, Omni Hotel at CNN Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 334-834-1170; email dianne@hattonbrown.com; visit bioenergyshow.com. 25-27—Hardwood Manufacturers Assn. 2020 National Conference & Expo, JW Marriott, Nashville, Tenn. Call 412-244-0440; visit hmamembers.org. 25-27—SFPA/SLMA Spring Meeting, Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans, La. Call 504-443-4464; visit sfpa.org.
28-May 1—Virginia Forestry Assn. Summit, Hotel Madison, Harrisonburg, Va. Call 804-2788733; visit vaforestry.org.
May 1-2—Expo Richmond 2020, Richmond Raceway Complex, Richmond, Va. Call 804-737-5625; visit exporichmond.com. 18-20—Forest Resources Assn. annual meeting, Omni Austin Downtown, Austin, Tex. Call 202296-3937; visit forestresources.org.
July 16-18—West Virginia Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Cannan Valley Resort & Conference Center, Davis, W.Va. Call 681-265-5019; visit wvfa.org. 24-26—Georgia Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Jekyll Island Convention Ctr., Jekyll Island, Ga. Call 478-992-8110; visit gfagrow.org.
August 21-22—Mid-South Forestry Equipment Show, Starkville, Miss. Call 800-669-5613; visit midsouth forestry.org. 20-23—Virginia Loggers Assn. annual meeting, Hotel Roanoke, Roanoke, Va. Call 804-677-4290; visit valoggers.org. 25-27—Florida Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort, Amelia Island, Fla. Call 850-222-5646; visit floridaforest.org. 25-27—Louisiana Forestry Assn. annual meeting, TBD. Call 318443-2558; visit laforestry.com. 25-28—IWF 2020, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 404-693-8333; visit iwfatlanta.com. Listings are submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.
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