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Vol. 48, No. 8

(Founded in 1972—Our 563rd Consecutive Issue)

F E AT U R E S

August 2019 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

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Goodbye Burk Morbark Legend Retires

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Jones Logging Good Old Ways

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

out front:

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

22 Mississippi’s Tal Priest comes from a family with a very long history in the woods, but it was never in his plans until the former college athlete tried it for a summer internship and got bit by the logging bug. Story begins on Page 8.

(Photo by David Abbott)

AL Logger School Class In Session

Western Canada, Western USA

Southern Stumpin’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Tim Shaddick Tel: 604-910-1826 • Fax: 604-264-1367 4056 West 10th Ave. Vancouver, BC V6L 1Z1 E-mail: tootall1@shaw.ca

Bulletin Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Kevin Cook Tel: 604-619-1777 E-mail: lordkevincook@gmail.com

Industry News Roundup . . . . . . . . . 28 Safety Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 ForesTree Equipment Trader . . . . . 39 Coming Events/Ad Index . . . . . . . . 46

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 ® 2019. 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

Sounds Good To Me rs. Kim Wall of Wall Timber in Osyka, Miss., contacted me recently to ask for my help. I wrote an article about the company Kim and her husband Bob run several years ago, and I’ve called them since a few times for their input on various articles. The Walls have an interesting idea for how to open some new markets in their state. She sent this letter to Commissioner Andy Gibson at the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and other state leaders. This is a great example of logging business owners getting proactively involved in the political process and making their voices heard—democracy in action.

I love it. Read Kim’s letter below and see what you think.

Dear Commissioner Gibson: My husband and I have been in the logging industry in Pike County for over 30 years. We own logging jobs, trucks and have interest in a small new sawmill and pallet making facility in Osyka.

We also own a small cattle operation and produce hay for sale. In other words, our livelihood and the livelihood of our family depend on the agriculture benefits of our state. Not knowing us or our reputations, however, you can get a tiny insight of how we reinvest in our home, Mississippi. I have loved the timber industry and have fought battles on its behalf, but now I think all loggers are facing a battle that we need urgent help with.

By the way, if you can lend any help or support for H.R. 2453 and/or S. 1509, the bipartisan Safe Routes Act of 2019 to allow log trucks to utilize federal interstates for short haul trips, it would be appreciated. This would make Mississippi’s highways safer for sure!

The past four or five years have been bad on the industry. Lack of truck drivers, insurance rates going out the roof (yes—I have contacted Mike Chaney’s office), equipment prices skyrocketing, lawsuits, etc., are just a few of the problems, but our largest problem is the demand for our product.

Mills putting loggers on quota, mills cutting back on production or just closing outright has our state’s $1.2 billion industry in a bind, to say the very least. Demand for our product would help those of us struggling to stay in the business. Some 60 families in our little rural community depend on us being able to conquer this Goliath.

Please, help me or point me in the right direction. Several large cities and some states have outlawed plastic bags in grocery and department stores. Plastic bags are not good on the environment, dangerous to livestock, and an eyesore on our beautiful Mississippi landscapes and waterfronts. Paper bags would increase the demand of our state’s number two product. Also, why could Mississippi not take this a step further in helping support ourselves by requiring all facilities such as schools, hospitals, state offices, etc., anyone that receives any type of state funding or benefits, to use

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paper cups, paper straws, paper plates, paper boxes. Just think if all of these facilities went back to paper towel type products in the restrooms. With these changes and more, land taxes would increase because more trees would be planted; the big boys like G-P, IP, etc., would go back into full production so personal incomes and jobs would increase; fuel and road taxes would increase; sales taxes would increase; and all because Mississippi would be supporting her own.

What if we could create some type of partnership with Mississippi’s number one industry: poultry?

Can Mississippi give them some type of incentive to use some 1.4 million wood fiber egg cartons instead of the plastic ones that are used now? How about the feed, fertilizer, and seed producers in Mississippi using wood fiber bags? What about tax incentives to industries that swap from other products back to wood fiber products?

Doing research, I learned that plastic bags came about in the 1970s because people were afraid of using up natural resources. Well, you and I know that the timber industry regenerates more than what is logged.

I grew up in Gillsburg, in Amite County. I remember all the dairies. I was raised on one. We got up at 3:00 every morning and milked some 200 Holstein cows in an old stall type barn and were back every afternoon doing the same. I milked cows the morning I got married! Now the dairies are few and far between. I pray we loggers don’t end up few and far between, but I am afraid we are heading in that direction.

Commissioner Gibson, we are in the best area on earth for growing pine trees. Just think about Europe doing all the research for their fuel pellet requirement and coming to our area. Please, help the loggers by helping increase the demand for timber products in our own back yard.

The state's ag and commerce department did get back in touch with Mrs. Wall, and Mississippi now has a state timber commerce liaison, Ginger Williamson. No word yet on if any of her suggestions can be implemented by official policy, but let's hope if a few more of us speak up, we can get their attention.

Women’s Touch Mrs. Wall is just one of the growing number of women I have met who are more actively involved in the day-to-day operations of their family logging businesses than might have been the case a few generations ago.

That would come as no surprise to April Smith, a partner at Adams and Reese LLP, a law firm in Mobile. The firm represents several large timber companies, REITs, TIMOs, mills and agricultural lenders in transactions—big timber deals. A Mobile native who did her undergraduate work at the Uni-

versity of South Alabama there (where my older nephew is about to enter his senior year), she’s been at Adams and Reese since she graduated from the University of Alabama law school 14 years ago. After starting her career working in litigation, she switched to the timber sales team close to 10 years ago; she hasn’t looked back.

April told me that she has seen a lot more women in those timber transactions in recent years.

“It’s been a male dominated industry, traditionally,” she admits. “It’s labor intensive and it’s outdoor, so the perception has been that it’s man’s work. But I see women attracted to the challenges. When I started, women were more in office roles, but we’ve seen a switch in many transactions.”

She adds, “I think it has a lot to do with women figuring out that forestry is sustainable, because they’re interested in protecting the environment.

And as more women see other women in those roles, more will realize that there’s a place for them.” That’s a plus for the industry, she says.

“When you bring in new ideas and different perspectives, as with anything else, diversity is a good thing.”

Parting Thought I’ve been around logging, one way or another, just about my whole life, and I’ve been interviewing loggers and writing their stories in this and other magazines now for over 14 years. I haven’t kept count but I figure I’ve done at least a few hundred such articles since March 2005.

One of the things I’ve heard repeatedly from different loggers all over the country: about as often as not, they say they don’t want their kids to follow in their footsteps. Not every logger, certainly—I’ve met many who encourage their kids to work in the woods or who love knowing that they have established a family business to pass down to their kids and grandkids. But just about as many tell me they hope their kids pursue other paths or, if the kids do work in the family business, that they had discouraged it.

Something occurred to me recently, though.

Why talk to your kids about logging like it’s a bad habit…like smoking? “I keep trying to talk him out of it, but I know it won’t do any good, he’s just dead set on it.” It’s often some variation on that.

We say it with a shrug, like it’s a fate he’s doomed to, a generational curse. I know some are half-joking, and the ones who aren’t, I understand what they mean. But still: why don’t we try to change the narrative? There are undeniably down sides to logging, as with any profession, but there are upsides, too; why not talk up the positive? Logging is an honorable vocation that provides necessary products vital to society. It’s something to be proud of, so when we talk to our kids about it, let’s SLT take pride in it.

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Born To Run ■ A summer internship for college athlete Tal Priest turned into a career in the woods.

Sixth generation logger Tal Priest started his company, Tal Baby Enterprises or TBE, as a trucking concern while he managed the fleet for his parents' companies, CST Timber and Tiger Timber. Later he added logging to his portfolio when he sold most of his trucks to buy one of the Tiger Timber logging crews.

By David Abbott CENTREVILLE, Miss. almadge “Tal” Priest, 32, has been running all his life… running track, running ★ the baseball diamond and the football field, running a logging crew for his dad and now running his own company, Tal Baby Enterprises (TBE). Although he grew up around the business—Tal represents the sixth generation of his family to make a living from the forests— for him, carrying on that family tradition wasn’t the original plan.

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The Priest family lives about four miles from the Louisiana state line, and about 45 miles from Baton Rouge, the home of the Louisiana State University Tigers, where Tal was a student athlete before switching to Southwest Mississippi Community College to play baseball, and later to Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, La., where he pursued a degree in industrial technology. One requirement to complete the program was to undertake a summer internship in a management position and write a report on it.

The trick would be finding a company willing to let him work in

management right off the bat, and only for the summer at that. Conveniently, his dad, Alan Priest, needed some help at his company, CST Timber, so it made sense for him to complete his internship there. “I had helped in the woods in the summers growing up,” Tal says, but he had not considered it a career option for himself. “I had no intention of going into logging; I planned on working in a plant, maybe.”

That summer, 2010, he went to work running one of CST’s logging crews. “When it came time to start school again, dad needed me on a piece of equipment, and I didn’t want to leave him in a bind,” Tal recollects. “Plus, I was really enjoying what I was doing, and he liked what I was doing. Mom wanted me to finish school; I don’t think I had but three classes left to finish. I said I’d get them one day.” That was almost 10 years ago, and “one day” still has yet to arrive.

He never wrote the paper or fin-

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ished the internship. If he did go back and do it now, he says, “I think my paper would be very, very different” than what he would have written back then.

Branching Out Pleased with his son’s performance, Tal’s dad moved him from running a crew to running the company’s entire trucking fleet. “I believe at this time we were running five or six jobs, so we had around 30 trucks.” In time, this promotion led Tal to start his own trucking company on the side. He bought two trucks at once and “three days later, one of the two new trucks was totaled,” Tal says. “It was just as horrible of a career start as can possibly happen.” But he stuck with it, and over the next five years built up the TBE fleet to 13 trucks.

In 2014, Tal decided to branch out from trucking and bought one of his dad’s logging crews, selling five

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of his trucks to pay for the equipment. He started TBE (the name is a reference to his childhood nickname, Tal Baby) with himself running the loader, two employees in the woods and four truck drivers.

Several of them are still with him.

For his first two years on his own, Tal ran the loader full-time. He found it difficult to run a machine and run a business well at the same time. “It got to be hard to buy my own timber, run the job, do all the maintenance, do all the hiring, all the paperwork, deal with landowners, payroll, taxes, insurance—there’s a lot more to it than running a machine,” he says. Mercifully, hard work paid off, and while he still fills in on machines regularly when he needs to, Tal can now spend the majority of his time running the business and leave the running of machines to his employees.

Priest chose to buy a new skidder in 2018 rather than repair an old one, emphasizing the crucial role skidders play in production.

Crew Tal says that labor is the biggest struggle for many logging companies in his area. “We pay really good money but it is difficult to find quality operators, because it’s a very low population area.” That said, he’s been fortunate in that most of his men have, at least off and on, been with him almost since the start nine years ago (a few have been back and forth).

The TBE crew includes Freddie Windham on the loader, Claude Westmoreland in the feller-buncher and his brother Ben Westmoreland, a former MMA (mixed martial arts) fighter, on the skidder; all three men have been with TBE more or less since the beginning. Of his four truck drivers, Tony Robinson was the first employee Tal hired in 2010 and Terrance Hannon has been with him since 2011. The other two, Johnny Gordon and Donald Fleming, have been here about a year.

For monthly safety meetings, Tal says, “We pick from six major topics and branch off each one and roll over

Left to right: Tal Priest, Claude Westmoreland, Freddie Windham, Ben Westmoreland, Terrance Hannon

every six months. And if there is a safety issue we have an immediate meeting to deal with it.” He adds that they preach the RADAR approach: Recognize the risk, Assess the situation, Develop a solution, Act on the solution, and Record. “It’s required

by Weyerhaeuser and the insurance company, and it is a best management practice.” Tal gets all his insurance—

The young logger calls the cutter his "prize possession."

SLT SNAPSHOT Tal Baby Enterprises Centreville, Miss.

Email: talpriest@yahoo.com Founded: 2010 Owner: Talmadge Priest No. Crews: 1 Employees: 7 Equipment: 1 cutter, 1 skidder, 1 loader Trucks/Trailers: 5 trucks and trailers Average Production: 65 loads/week Average Haul Distance: 60 miles Tidbit: Tal Priest and his family and crew are an athletically gifted and competitive bunch. Tal was (and still is) an athlete.

As a freshman in college, he was a member of the track and field team at LSU, where he pole-vaulted and ran/jumped hurdles. Tal was offered a baseball scholarship out of high school, so after one season at LSU, he decided to take that offer because he missed baseball. At Southwest Mississippi Community College in Summit, Miss., he played baseball for two years. The team finished fourth in the nation his first year there. Several of the guys who played with him are still playing in the Major League, he says. Tal and his wife both continue to coach sports at local high schools. And Tal’s skidder driver, Ben Westmoreland, used to compete in mixed martial arts on a semi-professional basis.

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It was an uphill crawl for the TBE crew when SLT visited in May.

Truck driver Hannon, left, has been with Tal, right, since 2011.

workers' comp, general liability, equipment, trucks, everything— through Bi-County Insurance, Inc. in Centreville, a company owned by a lifelong family friend.

Tal says TBE currently has no market for hardwood pulp locally. Their big market, Georgia-Pacific in Port Hudson, shut down two months ago, so they now haul hardwood pulp to two storage yards in Woodville, Miss., 20 miles away; from there it goes to a mill in Evadale, Tex. “Our main product is a small pine log, from an 8 in. butt with a 4 in. top to an 18 in. butt with a 7 in. top,” Tal says. “Anything that falls in those parameters represents 90% of our production.” TBE sends logs with 8-16 in. butts and 4 in. tops to Weyerhaeuser in Holden, La., while 12-24 in. butts with 7 in. tops go to

Operations Tal used to buy his own timber, making deals directly with landowners and mills, but in September 2017 he went to work as a contractor for Weyerhaeuser. The tract they were working when Southern Loggin’ Times visited in May was a 122-acre clear-cut; the whole place was 25,000 acres,

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between the Buffalo River and Macedonia Road. It is predominantly all plantation pine, with very little hardwood, 25-30 years old.

TBE does mostly second and some first thinning jobs. “We’re not a high production crew,” he says.

“We average about 65 loads a week with three machines and four trucks. We used to have more and move from 200-250 loads a week, and it was just too much headache.”

He dialed operations back in March 2018, he says, to one cutter, one skidder, one loader and four trucks.

“It is more manageable for me and a lot more enjoyable.”

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Weyerhaeuser in McComb, Miss.— that one is a 40-mile haul. The average haul is 60 miles. Other markets include Hood Container in St. Francisville, La. and Drax Biomass Amite Bioenergy in Gloster, Miss.

Trucking TBE runs five Peterbilts—two 2018 and three ’15 models, all 389s with Paccar engines, 18-speed EatonFuller transmission and Air Trac suspension. The trucks haul logs with Magnolia four bolsters and pole trailers made by Billy Nations, a local welding shop, and move equipment

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get a new engine and pumps and everything. It made sense to me to keep it and upgrade it.”

Opposite reasoning compelled him to add a brand new ’18 Tigercat 620E skidder with 17 ft. grapple in August last year. Skidders, he says, take more of a beating. “They are the hardest working piece of equipment, for sure,” he says. “Loaders don’t go through all the terrain. A skidder is dragging 10 tons of wood behind it over ridges and through mud bogs, and it does a lot of twisting and turning and gets exposed to

all the elements, while the loader sits stationary. It wouldn’t make sense to try to repair a piece of equipment that takes such a beating.” Tal duals up the skidder tires, with 35.5 Firestones on the inside and 24.5 rubber on the outside.

TBE has a fueling station at the office, with fuel delivered from Sun Coast Resources.

Tall also uses a drone, he says, “to make sure every drag was picked up, all timber harvested and to keep me from having to walk my butt off in the hills!”

After Hours Outside the woods, Tal stays busy.

Some nights he’s up till 2 a.m. hunting wild hogs or coyotes for pest control; other nights he’s up just as late cleaning out radiators. In the daylight hours he manages a small herd of longhorn cattle, just for fun. “Ever since I was a kid I said I would have longhorns in my driveway, and now I do.” He also has five horses; they had mares drop their first foals this season, and are working to get one saddle broke. He also competes in rodeo

"This is how I log in 2019," Tal says of the drone, used for area oversight.

with Viking and Magnolia lowboys.

Tal buys trucks at Peterbilt of McComb, and looks to Evergreen Truck and Trailer in Liberty, Miss. for service.

Along with labor, the young logger identifies trucking insurance costs as the biggest struggle he sees.

“When I first started trucking, insurance on a truck and trailer was about $3,500 a year,” he says; bear in mind that was just nine years ago.

“The last quote I got, nine months ago, for one truck and one trailer, was almost $15,000. And that is with clean loss runs and clean MDRs on drivers.”

Very few companies will even write insurance policies for log trucking in the state of Mississippi anymore; Tal thinks only two or three still do. He points out that the Mississippi Loggers Assn. has been working with underwriter Risk Management Partners to offer another alternative for log truckers in the state.

Equipment Other than a Komatsu dozer and John Deere excavator for road building and maintenance, TBE’s equipment in the woods is all Tigercat, purchased from salesmen Red Williamson and Bill Nunnery at B&G Equipment in Magnolia.

Tal calls his feller-buncher, a 2009 Tigercat 718E, his prize possession: “It has right at 14,000 hours on it and is one of the most reliable pieces of equipment that I own.” It runs on size 42 tires.

The logger recently overhauled his ’14 Tigercat 234 loader, a 12,000-hour machine, with a new engine, hydraulic pump, turn and grapple motors and repacked cylinders. “It is a top-notch machine,” he says. “It would have been $240,000 to replace it with a new machine versus $35,000 to Southern Loggin’ Times

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team roping (he’s the heeler) and has won many titles in the sport. Both for family fun and business, Tal's family takes people on guided deer hunts at their home place, Tatum Plantation in Gloster, and on offshore fishing trips on their boat, named "Off Season," in the Gulf.

In addition, the former college athlete now volunteers his time to help coach pole vaulting and track at Centreville Academy, a K12 private school from which Tal graduated. The track team has won its state championship for 2A boys the last two years in a row and four of the last five Priest spent $35 thousand to make the 2014 loader almost like new, rather than $240 thousand to replace it. years. “It turns into almost a full-time job for two months, with n’t get much time to watch a lot of onship last year in the 3A division. In Talmadge Priest, Jr. joined the famipractice every day and track meets on Netflix, but he is a dedicated Grey’s her day job she is a registered nurse ly. “They call me Tal Baby, and we Thursdays,” he says. “I really, really Anatomy fan. “It was a chore,” he and is currently pursuing her Master call him Baby Tal,” the proud dad enjoy it. Obviously when you have says of the long-running TV series, of Science in Nursing to become a says. “He is going to be a giant.” Tal good athletes it makes it a lot better.” “but then my wife got me into it.” nurse practitioner.

Sr. plans to pass on to his children Track season picks up in February Speaking of his wife, Tal married Tal and Taylor have two kids. Lil- all the things he’s learned: pole through April, and rodeos keep him his high school sweetheart, Taylor. lian (Lilly), 3, was an April Fools vaulting, track, baseball, football, busy from May to October. In the They started dating when she was in baby, he says. She was due March hunting, fishing, cattle, horses, winter he has to work six days a 7th grade in 2002 and married in 31, and Taylor went into labor on rodeos and logging. The most week every chance they get due to 2014. Taylor is also a track coach, but her due date, though it seemed the important thing he has to teach winter weather. One might wonder at a rival school, the Silliman Institute baby would make her appearance on them, though, is work ethic, he says. when he ever sleeps. “You can sleep in Clinton, La. The varsity boys track April 1. Instead, she held out till “They can do whatever they want as SLT when you’re dead,” he says. He does- team there also won the state champi- April 2. A mere 14 months later, son long as they work hard.”

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Priest Family Companies T loggers. In fact, the Priest family

al Priest comes from a long line of

has been in the woods business more than 100 years. Under Tal’s greatgrandfather, it was called Priest Bros.

Logging. The three titular Priest brothers started working for their own dad, Tal’s great-great-grandfather, back when they were all just kids, weighing under 100 lbs. When their dad left them in the woods while he made a run to town, he met the boys on the way back, driving oxen downhill all by themselves to bring logs to market.

One of those boys grew up to be the father of Tal’s grandfather, Harry Lee “Tadpole” Priest. Harry left college at Mississippi Southern (now USM) at age 20 when he got a call that his father, Harry, Sr., had been killed in an accident; a log had rolled off a truck onto him. To support his younger brother and mother, Harry started logging with his two uncles (the remaining two Priest brothers of the previous generation). He later moved to Baton Rouge and worked for Kaiser Machine Services, but after retiring from Kaiser, moved back to Gloster and started logging again, on his own this time, calling his company M&T Hauling.

Tal recalls, “My grandfather was the type of guy that kept a record on everything. When he sold a piece of equipment he could tell you how much he paid for it, how many gallons of fuel it burned, how many dollars worth of fuel it burned, how many hydraulic hoses he went through for the life of the machine, how many tons and board feet he loaded with it. He was very meticulous; I am not that way at all. I keep records of how many tons we load a year and our maintenance, but nowhere to the level he did.”

Harry’s wife, Tal’s grandmother, Wilhelmina Priest, was a school teacher. “Anybody you talk to around here from 40 years old and older, she was their teacher,” Tal says. After a career in the local schools, though, “She got fed up with teaching, so my grandfather

Tal, left; crew foreman Charley Ravencraft, center, right hand man to Alan Priest, right

told her to buy a short pulpwood truck. He’d load it on the last load of the day, pick her up and she’d go take it to the mill with him. She made more money off one load a day with a shortwood truck than she ever made teaching.”

Though his grandfather is gone now, Tal says, “Most every Monday or Friday, sometimes both, I make it a point to call my grandmother. She always wants to know how my equipment is doing, how is my production, and am I doing it the right way. She understands every aspect of it.”

Tal’s father, Alan Priest, didn’t go directly into the woods, either. He attended Mississippi State University, he says, long enough to get two degrees—he majored in real estate and finance, both of which came in handy later on—but he didn’t actually get either degree. Instead, inspired by the amount of money his brother started making right out of school, he switched to and graduated from International Technical Institute in Baton

All three Tiger crews use John Deere skidders.

Chips go to Drax in Gloster.

Rouge and went to work as an instrument technician for Dow Chemical in Plaquemine, La. “I gave that one year to see if I liked it,” Alan says. “I realized I didn’t want to be stuck in a plant, and I didn’t want to work for someone else.”

Alan then got his first experience buying timber when he started his first business: Triple A Firewood.

After two years of chopping and selling firewood year-round, he took up an offer from his father-in-law, Talmadge Bickham (Tal’s namesake), to help him develop subdivisions. After a heart attack ended Bickham’s life in 1981 (he was only 51), Alan partnered with his dad Harry in 1987 to form CST Timber, which bought timber to be logged by Harry’s M&T Hauling. CST took its name from the initials of Alan and his wife Renee’s three children: Christian, Slade and Tal. In the early ’90s, Alan and Renee bought out

Harry and Wilhelmina and CST started fielding its own logging crews under the banner of Tiger Timber. At times Tiger Timber has had as many as six crews, but like Kenny Rogers, Alan says, “You gotta know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em.” The important thing, he believes, is maintaining an equity position such that the business can add or remove crews as needed, relative to markets.

These days Tiger Timber fields three crews. With 13 Peterbilt trucks, 2016-’19 models, 11 chip vans and seven log trailers, one crew hauls roundwood and chips while the other two only haul chips to the Drax Biomass Inc. Amite Bioenergy pellet plant in Gloster.

Alan’s crews work in southwest Mississippi and across the state line in Louisiana, and use a mix of older and newer John Deere, Tigercat and Cat (Prentice) machines. Tiger Timber runs three Morbark chippers for J&N Timber Co. of Liberty, Miss., which is one of only two companies contracted to supply Drax with microchips (the other is Weyerhaeuser); J&N actually owns the chippers, but Tiger Timber operates, fuels and maintains them.

CST and Tiger Timber are completely separate businesses from TBE, but they all share shop and office space. The office building has been in the family a long time, though not always in its current location in Gloster. It was Tal’s grandfather’s office for M&T Hauling and was on his property near his home. “When he retired, instead of going to his house to go to the office every day, we jacked the building up, put it on a flatbed trailer and brought it to this location,” Tal says. The door on the front of the office was carved from glass by a prison inmate when Alan Priest was named the Mississippi Forestry Assn.’s Logger of the SLT Year for 2005.

Clearly the Priests are LSU fans. Above, special made door to the family office

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End Of An Era ■ Morbark’s legendary Larry Burkholder is stepping away.

By DK Knight

guiding them through federal and for a routine visit, only state grant processes to purchase milto surprise him with an hose close to Morlions of dollars of equipment. appropriate celebration. bark’s founder, the It was marked by a brief According to Morbark officials, some late Norval Morey, interruption of assembly of the customers he cultivated remain who grew up on a small among Morbark’s largest, and some line work; the presence farm and never went represent three or more generations in of family members and beyond elementary a family business. former co-workers; a school, say that he was John Foote, Morbark Senior Vice video filled with accovery astute at reading President, believes Burkholder piolades and best wishes; people, particularly the neered consultative selling in the and ample applause all ones he hired to help chipping/grinding sector. “He thinks around. strengthen and expand like a businessman who just happens Lon Morey, son of his sawmill, logging and to be selling equipment. Larry’s all Norval Morey and forbiomass equipment about helping others grow. He has mer Morbark CEO, business based in the had a hand in training or influencing appeared in the video, tiny, rural community of almost all the sales representatives at saying: “Ever since my Winn, Mich.

Morbark today, teaching us that sales dad hired you and until Morey evidently saw Burkholder was a regular at the Morbark Demo Days. is more than ‘memorizing and regurhis passing, the two of a lot of potential in gitating feeds and speeds;’ it’s about you had that special young Larry Burkholdhelping the customer succeed.” bond that most people er, a nearby farm boy Adds Michael Stanton, Director of only dream of. Your who was intrigued by Industrial Products: “Larry is a true name will live on in the what the entrepreneur Morbark family and the industry expert and is considered a was attempting to do. mentor by his customers and peers industry as much as his He joined Morey’s within the industry. His legacy will does because you’ve loose, cash-strapped, continue for many years.” always been a major small-time circus on While Burkholder’s contributions face for the company.

October 7, 1962 as a were most notable in sales, he Next to my father I bookkeeper. That was know of no one who has worked in various capacities, ranging five years after Morey from bookkeeping to marketing to as much respect for and had begun seriously tinrunning a dealership. He served as knowledge of this comkering in a small blackMorbark’s Marketing Manager; Manpany and this industry smith shop to improve ager of Recycling Systems, Inc., a as you do.”

Morbark’s first product, division of Morbark; and Vice PresiAnother video a portable pulpwood dent and General Manager of Morspokesman, Mark Rau, debarker. bark of the Lake States, Inc., a franMorbark Inside Sales Larry Burkholder was beloved by many; his family celebrated his retireBurkholder, previous- ment chised dealer based in Wisconsin. In Coordinator, hit a grand alongside members of the Morbark team at the Michigan plant. ly employed as a local the early years he served on the board slam with these words: bank teller who also worked on the of Morbark and Canadian Morbark. exception.

“Larry, in your honor I think they side as a small business bookkeeper Throughout his career he was Although he saw promise in Burk- should change the name of Morbark and income tax preparer, quickly engaged in industry and community holder and wisely acted on his to ‘Morburk’ for just one day.” found that Morey’s books were a affairs, serving as president of the advice, Norval Morey likely had no mess and the business was barely National Wood Energy Assn. during idea just how much Burkholder, then Sales Standout scraping along. the 1980s, on the boards or as a mem25, would contribute to Morbark’s Known as Burk in industry circles, ber of several industry associations, Recalls Burkholder in his distincsum and substance over the decades the outgoing, sincere, business-mind- including the American Loggers tive raspy voice: “I didn’t know what as the company grew. ed Burkholder I had gotten myself into. I told him he Burkholder became good friends excelled at sales, helphad to cut expenses and the quickest with Morey and remained very ing his region freway to do it was to trim personnel.” close to him as he developed into a quently earn the highMorey promptly reduced the employ- legendary salesman who would est annual revenue. ee count from 19 to 10 and the busiremain with the company and its On one occasion he ness gradually stabilized. affiliates/successors for almost 57 was a major factor in Even though he had no interest in years, an incredible stretch apparMorbark’s achieving a sales, after a few weeks on the job ently unmatched by any Morbark 90% market share for Morey branded Burkholder a partassociate. industrial equipment time sales assistant and told him to Now 80, Burkholder retired on report to Morey’s brother, Ralph, June 28, no doubt to the glee of Mor- in Florida. He assisted who seemingly could never find a bark’s competitors. His superiors had customers in capitalgood fit, or a person who could toler- beckoned him from his Florida-based izing on business Larry Burkholder, at the start of his career and now opportunities, at times ate his antics. Burkholder was an sales territory to the Michigan plant

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Council, Michigan Forest Products Committee and Forest Resources Assn. He also served as chairman of the Isabella County (Mich.) Republican Party.

End Of An Era Burkholder’s retirement signifies the end of a Morbark era, which began changing in 2016 when the Morey family sold to a New York City-based investment group and moved on to pursue other interests,

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Burkholder worked in various capacities during his nearly 57 year career at Morbark.

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confident that the new owner would take the company to another level, which it has. Burkholder is the last of the ‘old guard’ that collectively left its stamp on the manufacturer.

Like Norval Morey, Burkholder and a lot of other workers in the early years of Morbark were a tough lot gifted with a high-octane work ethic.

They tended to plow right through setbacks. For example, Burkholder was diagnosed with stage 3.5 colon cancer in 2005 at age 65. He underwent surgery and went through chemo and radiation treatments but was sidelined for only weeks before jumping back in. “I never thought I would not survive,” he explains, noting that he kept his mind off himself and on his family and work.

He spent 35 up-and-down years in Norval Morey’s inner circle—the entrepreneur died in 1997—and was probably closer to Morey than anyone at the company. This comes through in the book, My Way: The Norval Morey Story, a 2013 biography written by Rich Donnell and May Lamar. Burkholder is quoted or mentioned at least 20 times, far more than anyone else. He recounts how he learned life and business lessons from his mentor and gives accounts that reflect Morey’s disposition, resourcefulness, achievements, challenges and occasional setbacks.

It was Burkholder, a walking treasury of stories about Morey and Morbark, who in 2010 encouraged Lon Morey to pursue such a book and helped get the process in gear.

He provided details, contact information, and stories, too many for all to make it into print.

One who preferred to be in the field on the customer’s turf, Burkholder reflects on his storied career with abundant sunshine and satisfaction. While he has made a very good living, he considers the many friendships and relationships he cultivated among customers and fellow salespeople among his most valuable assets. “I’ve always liked to be around good, honest, hard-working people,” he relates. He says he’ll continue to keep in touch with them.

At the top of his list is Norma, his wife of 62 years and golf partner.

Then there are three children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, not to mention Lake Isabella, home to a boat he and the family enjoy. Expect him to spend more quality time with them.

Travel? Not likely, as he has visited all 50 states and some foreign countries.

“I like to grow things,” he says.

“I’ve never got the farmer out of me.”

(Burkholder can be reached at 941-928-6903; email larryburk SLT holder38@gmail.com.)

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Old School ■ The Jones Timber family loves to log together the old-fashioned way.

By Patrick Dunning CLINTON, Ky any in the southern ★ logging community are nostalgic for the good old orange Timberjack machines of the ’70s and ’80s— there’s even a Facebook group called Timberjack Junkies with more than 2,500 members. For Jones Timber Co., though, the much-loved, classic braying donkey logo is hardly a relic of the past. The old school is still in session for this logging family, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Owner Bryan Jones, 49, says that Jones Timber started out as a side job with just a tractor and a flatbed truck hauling hardwood logs.

“Every year it just got bigger and bigger,” he reflects. The Joneses have used the same equipment in the woods since starting the business 25 years ago. “The main reason we run them is because we can work on them ourselves,” Bryan adds.

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Bryan Jones has always used cable rigs.

Bryan's father, Larry, in a '79 model straight-shift Timberjack skidding one log at a time

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Jones Timber Co. gets paid by the foot.

The Jones' "Hawkeye" homemade loader

From left: Jeremiah Stinson, Teresa Jones, Larry Jones, Bryan Jones

From left to right: Larry Jones, Bryan Jones, Traci Byassee

Jones Timber uses a combination of straight-shift, power-shift and automatic Timberjack skidders with Stihl chain saws for felling hardwood in the Kentucky hills. Their inventory of classic Timberjacks includes a ’76 model 230D, ’79 model 225, ’84 model 350, ’85 model 240 and ’89 model 230.

“They’re old but they work as good as any,” Bryan says. His catalog of Stihl chain saws includes a MS 311, MS 461 and a MS 661 C-M. Rounding out the equipment lineup, Bryan and Harry bought a homemade loader from a gentleman in Arlington, Ky. They nicknamed it “Hawkeye.” Bryan and his father, Larry Jones, have invested a lot of time into this unique rig, declaring that it does as good a job as any loader they’ve ever run. “It works really well,” Bryan says. “It can pick up logs like you wouldn’t think.”

Sounding a bit like a logger’s version of the Johnny Cash song “One Piece At A Time,” Hawkeye was constructed using components from all over: a John Deere fuel tank, an AllisChalmers hydraulic tank, two-ton Ford front end, Chevrolet four-speed transmission, 292 Chevy engine, International 715 combine rear axle turned upside down, Case mask,

The Joneses haul with four trucks: three ’90s model Internationals and one ’88 model Mack.

Bryan uses short log bob trailers hand-welded in his shop.

All machinery was bought from

David Bradley wheel-weights, Ford rear wheels and International front combine wheels. “It’s a funny looking thing but she runs perfect,” Larry says. There’s not another one like it in the world.

SLT SNAPSHOT Jones Timber Co. Clinton, Ky. Email: tracibryan2272@gmail.com

private individuals. Skidders get maintenance every 300 hours and trucks serviced every 10,000 miles.

Bryan prefers Rural King 15W-40 oil and 303 tractor hydraulic oil. Machinery is greased at least once a week.

Truck insurance is provided through Nationwide, while Progressive covers everything else. “We’ve been doing business with them both for the past 25 years, ever since we have been in business,” Bryan says.

Operations

Founded: 1994 Owner: Bryan Jones No. Crews: 1 Employees: 5 Equipment: 5 skidders, 1 loader, 3 chain saws, 4 trucks and trailers Average Production: 6 loads daily, 25 to 30 thousand feet weekly Average Haul Distance: 25 miles Tidbit: Bryan Jones prefers Timberjacks because he can maintain them personally in his shop. Operating out of Clinton, Ky., the Jones family is renowned and preferred over larger crews in the area because of their attentiveness to the landowner’s tract.

Weather has been a problem for loggers in the Bluegrass State this year. For the past six months, rain has eliminated at least two days a week of work, Bryan says. “It’s been rough this year because of the weather but we typically do just fine.”

When downpours haven’t muddied the hardwood bottoms too badly, Bryan maneuvers his ’85 Timberjack 240 out of a rutted incline, before positioning at the peak. Measuring tie logs to the appropriate size, he wraps each felled tree individually with cable rigs and lugs them to the loading zone.

In July, Southern Loggin’ Times found the Jones family on a 25-acre

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tract in Fulton County, harvesting red and white oak. Bryan contracts the land through Carl Ivey, a private landowner, on a 50/50 share. Ivey recommended Jones Timber Co. for the job because of its reputation for taking care of the land. He prescribed first thinning throughout the expanse, down into the marshy bottoms then up the winding hills into untouched hardwood.

Jones Timber sells a sizable portion of its tie logs to Amish customers. All grade timber goes nine

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miles north of Clinton to Wright’s Saw Mill in Arlington. Straight limbs and tops go 40 miles down the road to Phoenix Paper LLC in Wickliffe.

Family The Joneses live by a simple motto: “for Opi and Momma,” in honor of the loved one they’ve lost.

Bryan’s brother, Russell Jones, nicknamed “Opi,” was killed seven years ago in a logging accident in Hickman County. “Opi was a cleaner and safer

cutter than I am, and he had a heart of gold,” Bryan recalls fondly. As for momma, his mother Joyce lost her fight with cancer 14 years ago. “It’s something that will always be a part of who we are,” Bryan says. He remembers vividly his mother telling him not to quit. “She always said it’s going to break down and die, but just don’t quit, and we haven’t quit.”

When he was 17, Bryan was watching when his dad Larry split his arm open while felling a hickory tree.

He had to go get it sutured and

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warned his son not to cut any trees until he returned. “I came back and Joyce was mad,” Larry says; they found Bryan match-cutting trees.

Larry calmed his worried wife with a question: “Wouldn’t you rather somebody who loves him teach him how to cut timber?” He continued, “I’m going to be there every day with him and if he does something wrong you know I’m going to get in his tail.” He proceeded to teach Bryan everything he knows about timber felling.

Larry had plenty of experience from which to draw upon. After all, he’s been working since he was 12 years old, driving trucks, cutting timber, working in a tire shop, anything to make ends meet. Now 71, the clan’s patriarch says he hopes to work another 50 years, even though the last 50-plus years have left him with his fair share of scars. “You wouldn’t believe it, but I’ve had seven trees fall on me,” he says.

He’s broken both arms, his right leg and his back. Once, a large poplar tree shattered every bone in his left leg; it’s now full of steel rods. The physicians who oversaw Larry’s hospital stay after his leg surgery was actually named Dr. Bone. “Still walk on it every day,” Larry says, and so he does, without even a subtle limp. He also drives an $800 ’88 heavy-duty Chevrolet truck with 500,000 miles on it.

The Joneses average six loads a day. “Most jobs may take us a little longer; a regular week is 25 to 30 thousand feet of wood,” Bryan says. “That’s a big week for us; most crews do that in one day. It takes us all week because we do it ourselves.”

Along with Bryan and Larry driving skidders, Bryan’s sister Teresa Jones runs a chain saw and employee Jeremiah Stinson drives a truck. All are in their mid 50s and up, and they all work full-time jobs outside of Jones Timber. It’s just the love for logging that keeps them in the woods.

Teresa and Bryan’s wife Traci Byassee work together to keep the books manually. They make most of the financial decisions for the company.

When they’re not working, Bryan and Traci enjoy getaways to Myrtle Beach and Panama City Beach. Avid fanatics of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), they tune in Monday and Tuesday nights and even attend the live events on occasion.

The Jones family is grateful to be in a position where they can do what they love together. “The best part about it is when we started out we had nothing,” Larry says. “Never had a nickel.” The loss of Russell and Joyce did nothing to dull their motivation to SLT persevere.

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Loggin’ School ■ Equipment operators receive training and certification.

By Patrick Dunning THOMASVILLE, Ala. outhern Loggin’ Times visited the Forest Workforce ★ Training Institute (FWTI) for its Logging Equipment Operator School’s preview day in Thomasville, Ala., on June 19. Sponsored by the Alabama Forestry Assn. (AFA), the course is designed for students with little to no logging experience.

Six students completed the class and received Professional Logging Manager (PLM) qualification and are prepared to enter the workforce immediately following graduation.

The first two weeks are spent in the classroom learning about timber harvesting, forestry management, logging equipment operation and forest sustainability with an emphasis on safety. In addition, students receive safety certifications.

The hands-on portion of the fourweek course took place on a 100acre tract in Clarke County provided by Scotch Lumber Co.

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with local business service representatives, the employer gains ample time to get them up to production without losing money.

The forestry industry is one of the main engines driving Alabama’s rural economy. According to the Alabama Department of Commerce, it contributes $23 billion to Alabama’s economy annually.

Alabama’s Logging Equipment Operator School is just one of two such programs nationwide. The other course, Forest Equipment Operator Training School, operates out of North Carolina with similar goals as FWTI.

safety into students’ heads until it becomes second nature. Students spend 50-80 hours in machine cabs. Whoever isn’t in a machine is looking for safety errors and using the radio to communicate with one another.

Every class is different than the last. Location of the course is determined at logger interest meetings, held in various “logger friendly” communities. “We travel the state and educate students about the different careers in the forestry industry,” Dailey says. “We try to be in every single county we can. We do career fairs, job fairs and forestry career days.”

Safety

Development

Logging is still considered the most dangerous occupation. FWTI Director of Training Ray Clifton stresses safety to each student. “At the very beginning of the class: full safety training, personal protective equipment, safety inside the machine, everything,” Clifton says. Safety meetings are held daily. He drills

Though conceived seven years ago, the project didn’t fully get off the ground until two years ago. An Attendance Improvement and Dropout Prevention (AIDP) grant from the state of Alabama was instrumental in helping fully launch the program, which now has an 8085% success rate in finding

Getting Older The logging force is growing older.

By 2026, nearly 50% of employees in the industry will be retiring, according to AFA workforce development coordinator Maggie Dailey. This year’s survey by SLT sister publication Timber Harvesting concluded that 56% of U.S. logging contractors are older than age 50. Currently just 18% of logging contractors are under age 40. That’s down 22% since 2016.

Even with the work force thinning, employers can’t afford to hire someone not up to snuff. So, through the Alabama Career Center systems, FWTI offers Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funding, which is federal funding set aside for work-force development and on-the-job training.

“We do everything we can to get these people hired,” Dailey says.

“We don’t want to train these people and then nobody hires them.”

This allows employers to receive 50-75% reimbursement of income from a new worker from six weeks up to six months. As long as they write a training program describing how much time it’s going to take to get a person trained and coordinate 22

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From left to right: Steve Crowley (Scotch Lumber), Raymond Jackson, Canita Perkins, Christopher Watson, Byron Tensley, Christian Wright, Michael Gibson, Danny Faulkenberry (Warrior Tractor and Equipment), Craig Hare (Warrior Tractor and Equipment)

Discussing safety while operating the loaders

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employment for graduated students.

To date, 22 students have successfully completed the course: six from Whatley, six from Wetumpka, four from Double Springs, three from Greenville and three from Chambers County.

The trick to making this program succeed is to get help from loggers who recognize the need and can host a class on their site. “The biggest challenge is getting the equipment,” Clifton says. The AIDP grant alone does not cover the cost of assistance, equipment and additional trainers.

“We’re thankful to have had a host logger in every situation who let us work with them and use spare equipment,” Clifton says. “Finding equipment dealers when bouncing throughout the state is tough but we’ve had some equipment dealers really help us out a lot.”

Warrior Tractor and Equipment of Monroeville, Ala., Scotch Lumber Co. of Fulton, Ala., and the Alabama Forestry Commission all chipped in to bring this most recent course to fruition. Warrior Tractor territory manager Craig Hare donated a ’19 John Deere 648L skidder. Scotch Lumber Co. donated a Cat 234 loader and Cat 620D skidder while AFC provided a 650J John Deere dozer.

“We’re just happy to help,” Hare says. “Ray is right, we have to implement younger men and women into this industry before it’s too late.” And Clifton is more than appreciative for any help he receives.

“Everybody helps out a little bit and we pull this thing off,” he says.

Six students graduated June 21, two of whom were hired immediately by Sumter Timber Co. in Jefferson, Ala. Christian Wright, graduate of the most recent class, describes his experience with the course as second-to-none. “This is something I’ve wanted since I was in kindergarten,” Wright says. “It was hard to find employment with no previous experience but I am glad I have an opportunity to be a part of the program.” Raymond Jackson, who was also hired on with Sumter Timber Co., praises Clifton’s ability to teach. “Mr. Ray was fantastic. He made sure we went over everything I need to know to be a professional logger.

I’ve learned everything about safety, BMPs and SMZs.” The next course was scheduled to start in Ozark, Ala. on July 8. Southern Timber Co. is providing the tract and Flint Equipment of Dothan, Ala. is donating all machinery.

Clifton believes the logging industry is moving to a more corporate structure. “Loggers, dealers, paper companies and the sawmills are going to have to recognize that the workforce needs to be developed,” he says. “The industry is SLT going to have to step up.”

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Wit Wins, Anger Loses The story goes that when Gandhi was studying law at University College, London, a Caucasian professor, whose last name was Peters, disliked him intensely and always displayed prejudice and animosity toward him. Also, because Gandhi never lowered his head when addressing him, as he expected, there were always confrontations between them.

One day Peters was having lunch at the dining room of the university and Gandhi came along with his tray and sat next to the professor, prompting him to say, “Mr. Gandhi, you do not understand. A pig and a bird do not sit together to eat.”

Gandhi looked at him as a parent would a rude child and calmly replied, “You do not worry professor. I’ll fly away,” and he went and sat at another table. Peters, reddened with rage, decided to take revenge on the next test paper, but Gandhi responded brilliantly to all questions.

Peters, unhappy and frustrated, then asked him: “Mr. Gandhi, if you were walking down the street and found a package and within was a bag of wisdom and another bag with a lot of money, which one would you take?”

Without hesitating, Gandhi responded, “The one with the money, of course.”

Peters, smiling sarcastically, said, “I, in your place, would have taken wisdom, don’t you think?”

Gandhi shrugged indifferently and responded, “Each one takes what he doesn’t have.”

The professor was beside himself and so great was his anger that he wrote on Gandhi’s exam sheet the word “idiot” and gave it to Gandhi, who took it and sat down at his desk, trying very hard to remain calm while he contemplated his next move.

A few minutes later, Gandhi got up, went to the professor and said to him in a dignified but sarcastically polite tone, “Mr. Peters, you signed the sheet, but you did not give me the grade.”

The moral: wit always wins over anger.

Thoughts To Ponder Life is not a fairy tale. If you lose your shoe at midnight, you’re drunk. women are upset at Trump’s naughty words, who in the heck bought 80 million copies of 50 Shades of Gray? l Former FBI Director Jim Comey answered, “I don’t know,” “I don’t recall,” and “I don’t remember” 236 times while under oath; yet he remembered enough to write a book. l What is the difference between an illegal immigrant and E.T.? E.T. learned to speak English and went home. l Why is it that those who rail the loudest against foreign interference in our elections are so adamant about allowing non-citizens to vote in our elections? l A socialist is basically a communist who doesn’t have the power to take everything from citizens at gunpoint—yet! l How do you walk 2,000 miles through Mexico without food or support and show up at the U.S. border 100 pounds overweight and with a cell phone? l

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AT MY FUNERAL TAKE THE BOUQUET OFF MY COFFIN AND THROW IT INTO THE CROWD TO SEE WHO IS NEXT. 7. The worst natural disaster in U.S. history occurred in 1900 when an unnamed hurricane killed more than 8,000 along the Galveston coast.

8. The first word spoken from the moon on July 20, 1969 was “Houston”, but the Space Center was actually in Clear Lake City at the time.

9. The King Ranch in south Texas is larger than the state of Rhode Island.

10. Tropical Storm Claudette produced a U.S. rainfall record of 43 inches in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July, 1979.

11. Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by treaty instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas flag to fly at the same height as the U.S. flag. As well, the treaty allows Texas to divide into five states.

12. A live oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old.

13. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.

14. The soft drink Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period in the brand name.

15. Texas has had six capital cities: Washington-on-the Brazos, Harrisburg, Galveston, Velasco, West Columbia and Austin 16. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. which is taller (by 7 feet) than the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. 17. The San Jacinto Monument is the tallest free-standing monument in the world.

18. The word Texas comes from the Hasini Indian word “tejas”, which means “friends”. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas.

19. The state mascot is the Armadillo.

20. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston.

21. Texas has more counties (254) than any other state. Geographically, the largest county is Brewster at 6,193 sq. mi. It has a population of approximately 9,337. The most populous county is Harris, home to some 3.8 million.

22. With 29 million residents, Texas is the second most populous state.

With a land area of 268,597 sq. mi., it is the second largest geographically.

Anxious Pigs

A farmer had five mature female pigs. Times were hard, so he decided to take them to the county fair and sell them. At the fair, he met another farmer who owned five mature male pigs. After talking a bit, they decided to mate the pigs and split everything 50/50.

The farmers lived 60 miles apart, so they decided to drive 30 miles each morning to a field where the pigs would mate. The first morning, the farmer with the female pigs got up at 5 a.m., loaded the pigs into his pickup and drove to the site.

While the pigs were mating, he asked the other farmer, “How will I know if they are pregnant?” The other farmer replied, “If they’re lying in the grass tomorrow morning, they’ll be pregnant. If they’re lying in the mud, they’re not.”

1. Port Arthur to El Paso, 889 miles; Port Arthur to Chicago,770 miles The next morning the pigs were rolling in the mud, so he hosed them 2. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas. off, loaded them into the pickup and proceeded to try 3. World’s first rodeo was in Pecos on July 4, 1883. again. This continued each morning for more than a My son asked why I 4. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel week and both farmers were getting tired of the rouspeak so softly in the in North America built over water. It was destroyed tine.

by Hurricane Ike in 2008.

The next morning the owner of the female pigs house. I said I was afraid 5. The Heisman Trophy was named after John was too tired to get out of bed. He called to his wife, the NSA was listening.

William Heisman, the first full-time coach at Rice “Honey, please look outside and tell me whether the He laughed, I laughed, University in Houston. pigs are in the mud or in the grass.”

Alexa laughed.

6. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in “Neither,” yelled his wife, “they’re in the truck, 1978. and one of them is honking the horn.”

Interesting Texas Tidbits

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INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP Act of 2019, S.1509 in the As We See It: Crossing the Finish Line Routes Senate and H.R. 2453 in the House,

By Danny Dructor The American Loggers Council, working with other like-minded organizations such as the Forest Resources Assn., has been successful in getting two Dructor

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bills introduced in this Congress that can have a positive impact on the timber harvesting industry and assist with bringing the next generation of logging businesses into the industry.

The first bill is the Safe

which would allow log trucks to access the Federal Interstate Highway System with state legal tolerances when those safer routes are available to the mills. The second is the Future Logging Careers Act, S.818 in the Senate and H.R. 1785 in the House, which would allow the 16- and 17-year-old sons and

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daughters of logging business owners to legally work in their parents’ businesses much like the sons and daughters of farmers are currently allowed to do.

We have received bipartisan support for both bills in the House and Senate. The Safe Routes Act currently has seven cosponsors in the House and two in the Senate, while the Future Logging Careers Act has 16 cosponsors in the House and seven in the Senate.

We need many more in order to get either of these bills out of Committee and on the floor of the House and Senate for a final vote.

In order to do that, we need your help. We have posted action alerts to both our Facebook page and website (www.amloggers.com) and have sent out a separate action alert to all of you who have signed on to receive our monthly newsletter, but obviously that still isn’t enough to get the word out.

We are asking you to visit our website and/or American Loggers Council Facebook page and click on the action alert that will take you directly to a pre-written letter that will go directly to your Congressman or Congresswoman as well as your two Senators requesting that they support the legislation. We also ask that you help us spread the need for support as far and wide as possible in order to get more attention drawn to the legislation by your representatives in DC. If Congress only hears from a few of us, they will not react, but when we are all working together, we will be hard to ignore. Partisan politics has become the status quo for many of our representatives in Washington, DC these days. For those of us outside the beltway who are impacted by the inability of Washington to pass even common sense legislation, one of our few hopes is to convince those members who are playing the political game that their job security rests on satisfying their constituents back home in their districts and states, and not just their allegiance to the “Party.”

If we are to have a chance of getting either of these bills across the finish line, then we have to work together as a unified industry and do our part by contacting our representatives directly. The electronic tool that we are providing via our website and social media site only requires about five minutes of your time to take that action. Please assist us in putting pressure on your representatives to support both of these bills and ask that they cosponsor both pieces of legislation. We are “Loggers

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Working for Loggers.”

The American Loggers Council is a 501(c)(6) not for profit trade association representing professional timber harvesters throughout the United States. For more information please contact the American Loggers Council at 409-625-0206, or americanlogger@aol.com, or visit our website at www.amloggers.com.

RoyOMartin Makes Time For Play RoyOMartin has partnered with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry for the construction of a children’s playground at Indian Creek Recreation Area in

Forestry Students At GP Diboll Sawmill

RoyOMartin’s Byrd at Ft. Martin playground

Woodworth, La. Located 15 miles south of the company’s corporate headquarters in Alexandria, this park is a popular destination for fishing, hiking, biking and camping.

While some basic playground equipment was already on site, Fort Martin—as the new spot would be named—was intended to pro- ➤ 30

Stephen F. Austin State University forestry students recently wrapped up a six-week summer course learning how to turn trees into lumber. Last week the group of 58 forestry students toured one of the longest-operating mills in the nation, Georgia-Pacific’s Diboll Lumber Mill in Texas. The junior and senior college students have spent weeks in the field understanding reforestation, harvesting and the process of manufacturing wood products such as lumber, plywood and composite panels. Danny Wright, GP Diboll Lumber Plant Manager, notes that Georgia-Pacific has worked closely with SFA through the years to provide students with an up-close look at lumber operations. “Many of these students will end up working in the forestry industry and it is important that they see first-hand all aspects of the business,” Wright says. “We strive to give students the total experience, from the time a log enters our facility to when it is converted into lumber and loaded on trucks for delivery. We are proud to partner with SFA to offer these students the real-world experience.”

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vide a safer, larger and more modern space in which young children could play.

RoyOMartin’s involvement in this project consisted of helping

design the playground equipment, supplying the wood needed for construction, and overseeing its installation at the site. Bobby Byrd, director of OSB sales and market-

ing, teamed up with the organization’s construction group and volunteers to bring Fort Martin to life.

YellaWood donated the majority of the lumber used in construction.

“We were happy to see this project come to fruition and support our local community through this effort,” states Byrd.

A ribbon-cutting for Fort Martin took place on June 17.

Alabama County Gains Federal Dollars The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $500,000 grant to Pike County, Ala. to make critical infrastructure improvements needed to support the growth of manufacturing businesses in the region, including a major lumber manufacturing facility. This EDA grant will be matched with $500,000 in state investment and is expected to attract $110 million in private investment and create 110 jobs.

“Helping our communities implement their plans to provide the vital infrastructure that businesses need to be successful is a top priority for President Trump,” says U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Dr. John Fleming. “This EDA investment will help build necessary road infrastructure needed to serve Pike County’s manufacturing industry and accommodate its future growth.”

This project will help to resurface approximately four miles of County Road (CR) 7714 from CR-7724 north to CR-7707. The structural improvements to County Road will make it more resilient to heavy traffic from logging trucks. This project was made possible by the regional planning efforts led by the South Central Alabama Development Commission. EDA funds the South Central Alabama Development Commission to help bring together the public and private sectors to create an economic development roadmap to strengthen the regional economy, support private capital investment and create jobs.

Nokian Expands Production, R&D Nokian Heavy Tyres, Nokia, Finland, will increase its production of commercial tires up to 50% and more than double the number of new products by investing heavily in production and product development. The total investment, which includes the construction of a new 3,500 m2 R&D building, will be EUR 70 million.

“The construction schedule was ambitious, but we have kept it well”, says Matti Kaunisto, development manager. “Once the building is finished, it will boost our 30

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innovation work and speed up the time-to-market.”

Another construction project involves expanding the production facilities. “The building is erected and the installation of machinery is in full flight,” says plant director Pasi Antinmaa. “We will reach the full capacity in 2021 as stated.”

Besides enabling more capacity and future growth, the new facilities serve an important role by supporting smoother flow and a safer work enviroment.

Logging Community Visits White House American Loggers Council (ALC) Executive Vice President Daniel Dructor visited the White House on July 8 to hear President Trump deliver remarks on America’s environmental leadership.

“It was a privilege to attend this White House event and recognize the accomplishments of this administration on natural resources and environmental issues,” Dructor says. “President Trump recognizes the importance of active forest management and the role of America’s loggers as part of the solution.

Under this administration, the federal government and its land manage-

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ment agencies are making clear progress in using all available forestry tools, including thinning and logging, to address the impacts of wildfire, insects and disease on America’s federally-owned forests.”

In addition to the American Loggers Council, the nation’s logging community was represented by Associated Oregon Loggers Executive Vice President Jim Geisinger, Associated California Loggers Pres-

ident Mike Albrecht of Sierra Resource Management, Inc. of Sonora, Calif., and Todd Stoffel of Timber Unity, a grassroots movement of loggers and log truckers based in Oregon.

Pitts Adds East Texas Truck Center Pitts Heavy Haul announced the East Texas Truck Center (ETTC) in Baytown, Tex. will add Pitts Heavy Haul lowboy trailers to its offerings.

In addition to Pitts Heavy Haul lowboys, ETTC offers truck repairs, parts and maintenance, glider truck sales and used truck sales. “Our customers rely on our experienced staff to provide the best possible service at the best possible value,” explains ETTC VP of Sales Terry Livingston.

Pitts Heavy Haul manufactures hydraulic removable neck lowboys, fixed neck lowboys, hydraulic folding tail lowboys and construction grade tag-a-long lowboys, which are available at dealerships throughout the Northeast, Southeast and Midwest.

John Deere Completes New Training Facility John Deere recently completed the construction of a 7,500 sq. ft. facility in Coal Valley, Ill. to better meet internal training demands,

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along with supporting customer visits and events. The building is part of the Construction & Forestry Training Campus and includes three classrooms that can be used separately for training purposes, or combined to John Deere’s new Forestry training facililty hold more than 250 people for larger events. In addition, there is additional classroom space for dealer nearly 4,000 sq. ft. of covered canopy sales staff and technician training,” space for outdoor training and equip- says David Reilly, manager, worldment walkarounds. wide training, John Deere Construc“The primary function of this new tion & Forestry. “Training is a core facility is to provide much-needed part of our program, but beyond that,

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the C&F Coal Valley Training Campus also hosts other important events throughout the year.”

The facility will also include a John Deere simulator – further bridging the gap between the classroom and jobsite. Onsite events include customer-specific activities where they can demo equipment and interact with John Deere experts.

“With this new facility customers and dealers can walk out of the class-

AUGUST 2019 l Southern Loggin’ Times

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rooms and directly into the demonstration area,” adds Tim Hilton, manager, Demonstration Sites, John Deere Construction & Forestry. “We’re excited to share this new experience with dealers, technicians, customers and media.”

Deere Apprenticeship Programs Gets Nod John Deere has received approval from the U.S. Department of Labor for its new Registered Apprenticeship Program and is making it available to its Agriculture & Turf and Construction & Forestry dealers.

The program will help address a widespread shortage of service technicians, especially in rural areas across the country, by providing dealers with a formalized, on-thejob and technical training plan to help them develop more highly skilled employees.

Through participation in the apprenticeship program, dealers formally commit to developing additional talent in an earn-while-youlearn program. A participating apprentice benefits from structured, on-the-job training in partnership with an experienced mentor.

According to Tim Worthington, manager, customer support for the John Deere Construction and Forestry Division, participating dealerships will see numerous benefits.

“Because of the earn-while-youlearn nature of the program, it will help dealers more easily recruit new employees and further develop a highly skilled workforce,” Worthington says. “This can improve a dealer’s productivity and profit potential as employee turnover costs are reduced and employees are retained longer. In addition, John Deere customers benefit from access to more highly skilled dealer personnel who are servicing or supporting their equipment.”

John Deere dealers can collaborate with local organizations as part of the Registered Apprenticeship Program. These organizations include, but are not limited to, the John Deere TECH Program, K-12 schools, community colleges, labor organizations, economic development groups, foundations and workforce development boards.

When apprentices participate, they track and report their on-thejob learning and technical training time in conjunction with their employer. The dealer’s program administrator then inputs this data into the appropriate state or federal database.

For more information about the John Deere Registered Apprenticeship Program, visit your local John Deere dealer.

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Chip Hauler Falls Asleep at the Wheel Background: On an early morning winter day in the Lake States Region, a driver was hauling sawmill chips to a paper mill. The driver was on his last trip after a long night shift. He was 15 miles from his delivery destination when the incident occurred. Weather conditions were cold and clear, and the roads were in good condition.

Personal Characteristics: The 32 year-old driver had more than 10 years of experience. He had made this trip multiple times during his employment with the trucking company. The driver had a clean driving record both professionally and personally.

Unsafe Act and Condition: The driver fell asleep while approaching a “T” intersection where two state roads joined.

Accident: The truck driver ran a stop sign of an uncontrolled intersection and crossed the road into the ditch.

As he crossed the intersection, he awoke and turned the cab slightly to the right. This action likely avoided a serious injury as the trailer struck had a glancing blow to the cab when the truck rolled over, spilling its contents into the right-of-way. No other vehicles were involved in the accident.

Injury: The driver received a minor blow to the head as the trail-

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er hit the cab. He was treated at a local hospital and received several stitches.

Recommended for Corrections: Your body can’t fight the need to sleep. Chemicals build up in your brain until they reach a tipping point and you will fall asleep. There are preventative measures that can prevent fatigued driving.

Causes of drowsy driving include lack of quality sleep, driving when you would normally be sleeping, and sleep disorders such as sleep apnea.

Symptoms of fatigue include: l Yawning l Sore or heavy eyes l Slower reaction times l Daydreaming l Changes in driving speed l Impatience l Stiffness and cramps l Impaired driving performance How to beat driver fatigue: l Get a good night’s sleep l Take regular breaks l Take a 15 minute power nap if you feel fatigued l Don’t drink alcohol before your trip l Limit caffeine l Cool the truck interior l Eat proper and well-balanced meals l Stay hydrated Supplied by Forest Resources Assn.

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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.

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A D L I N K ●

ADVERTISER American Logger’s Council American Truck Parts Around The World Salvage ATG Primex Tire Bandit Industries Big John Trailers BITCO Insurance Caterpillar Dealer Promotion Chambers Delimbinator John Deere Forestry Doggett Machinery Service Eastern Surplus Flint Equipment Forest Chain Forestry First Forestry Mutual Insurance G & W Equipment Hawkins & Rawlinson Industrial Cleaning Equipment Interstate Tire Service Ironmart Kaufman Trailers Mike Ledkins Insurance Agency LMI-Tennessee Magnolia Trailers Maxi-Load Scale Systems Moore Logging Supply Morbark Peterson Pacific Pitts Trailers Ponsse North America Puckett Machinery Quadco Quality Equipment & Parts River Ridge Equipment Southern Loggers Cooperative Southwest Forest Products Expo Stribling Equipment Tidewater Equipment Tigercat Industries Timberland TraxPlus Trelan Manufacturing W & W Truck & Tractor Waratah Forestry Attachments Waters International Trucks J M Wood Auction

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ADLINK is a free service for advertisers and readers. The publisher assumes no liability for errors or omissions.

COMING EVENTS August 20-22—Florida Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Sheraton Bay Point Resort, Panama City Beach, Fla. Call 850-222-5646; visit floridaforest.org.

23-24—Southwest Forest Products Expo, Hot Springs Convention Center, Hot Springs, Ark. Call 501-2242232; visit arkloggers.com.

23-25—Virginia Loggers Assn. annual meeting, Homestead Resort, Hot Springs, Va. Call 804-6774290; visit valoggers.org.

27-29—Louisiana Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Golden Nugget, Lake Charles, La. Call 318-4432558; visit laforestry.com.

September 5-7—Great Lakes Logging & Heavy Equipment Expo, UP State Fairgrounds, Escanaba, Mich. Call 715-282-5828; visit gltapa.org.

6-7—Virginia Forest Products Assn.

Annual Conference, The Homestead Resort, Hot Springs, Va. Call 804-737-5625; visit vfpa.net.

8-10—Alabama Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Perdido Beach Resort, Orange Beach, Ala. Call 334-265-8733; visit alaforestry.org.

20-21—Kentucky Wood Expo, Embassy Suites Newtown Pike,

Lexington, Ky. Call 502-695-3979; visit kfia.org.

26-28—American Loggers Council annual meeting, Perdido Beach Resort, Orange Beach, Ala. Call 409-625-0206; visit amloggers.com.

October 1-3—Mississippi Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Hilton, Jackson, Miss. Call 601-354-4936; visit msforestry.net.

2-4—North Carolina Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Hotel Ballast, Wilmington, NC. Call 800-2317723; visit ncforestry.org.

2-4—2019 National Hardwood Lumber Assn. Convention & Exhibit Showcase, Sheraton New Orleans, New Orleans, La. Call 901-377-1818; visit nhla.com.

8-10—Arkansas Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Embassy Suites, Little Rock, Ark. Call 501-3742441; visit arkforests.org.

16-18—Tennessee Forestry Assn. annual meeting, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Knoxville, Tenn. Call 615883-3832; visit tnforestry.com.

16-18—Texas Forestry Assn. annual meeting, The Fredonia Hotel, Nacogdoches, Tex. Call 936-6328733; visit texasforestry.org.

November 6-8—Forestry Assn. of South Carolina annual meeting, Wild Dunes, Isle of Palms, SC. Call 803-7984170; visit scforestry.org.

February 2020 19-23—Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers annual meeting, Naples Grand Beach Resort, Naples, Fla. Call 336-885-8315; visit appalachianhardwood.org.

Listings are submitted months in advance.

Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.

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