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INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP As We See It: Missouri, Going Back To Where It All Began By Scott Dane In 1994, loggers from across the country met in St. Louis, Mo. to discuss forming the American Loggers Council, hoping to provide a national voice for the log-
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ging sector of the forest products industry. The meeting was precipitated by the American Forests and Paper Assn. rolling out the Sustainable Forestry Initiative—a program which was initiated without any input
from the logging sector, with disregard for the fact that the burden of implementation and compliance was going to lay primarily upon the loggers. Spearheaded by Earl St. John, and 33 other logging leaders from across the country, the meeting was
convened, and over the course of a few days the framework of the American Loggers Council was developed. It was a gutsy move, especially considering that loggers were expected to be seen and not heard within the industry. Though loggers had previously been silent and fragmented, these leaders stood up and said, “We are going to be heard. We are not going to be dismissed and ignored. We are going to be represented!” As we’ve recently celebrated Independence Day, it is good to recall that the founders of the American Loggers Council, like the founders of the United States, similarly risked personal ramifications, but still “pledged to each other our lives, our fortunes and our honor.” In retrospect the risk was worthwhile, as with our nation, so it has been for our organization. The battle belongs to the brave. Today, the American Loggers Council is unquestionably the National Voice of the American Logger, representing more than 30 state and regional associations, nearly 100 Individual Logger Members (ILM), and all major primary industry vendors. You, as a stakeholder in the timber industry, are represented from coast to coast, north to south, from the landing to the halls of Congress. Scott Dane is Executive Director of the American Loggers Council. ALC is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing the interests of timber harvesting and timber hauling businesses across the United States. For more information visit www.amloggers.com.
STP-Tolko Plan Ackerman Expansion Southeastern Timber Products LLC, an STP Holdings-Tolko Industries partnership, announced a $150 million U.S. investment in the STP sawmill in Ackerman, Miss. The investment is the next step in an expansion project that will upgrade the mill from 120MMBF to 250MMBF annual capacity. The project will conclude in the first quarter of 2024. The mill has already implemented some recent upgrades. “The Board approval of the expansion is a testament to the employees at STP-Tolko in Ackerman,” says Billy Van Devender, CEO of Claw Forestry. “There have been significant incremental gains in our production and performance, which sets us up to make this additional investment into our mill and our state. The expansion will also 24
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AUGUST 2022 l Southern Loggin’ Times
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