By JAMES RONALD SKAINS
Journal Correspondent

The first ever Ark-La-Tex Logging Championships will be held in mid October in the woods near Natchitoches, Louisiana. The Logging Championships will be combined with a full blown Forestry Extravaganza agenda that will include in-the-woods logging equipment demostrations, special events, and entertainment to make the mid-October event, a time to remember in logging circles.

"I think that the time has come for us to find out just who are the best of the best loggers in the Ark-La-Tex" Travis Taylor, a longtime Winn Parish logger and one of the initial organizers of the October event told the Piney Woods Journal. "The only way that I can think of to truly find out who are the best loggers is to go to woods and log. We plan to offer considerable prize money to those who prove they are the best at logging."

The rules being formulated by the organizers to decide who are the"best loggers" are rather simple and straightforward. Taylor said.

"The Logging Contractor who enters the contest and his team leader must be either a Louisiana Master Logger, an Arkansas Pro-Logger, or a Texas Master Logger," Taylor explained. "The preliminary round of competition will be held in the logging contractor's backyard. We will have contest officials visit each Logger's jobsite to enters and time his crew in cutting, skidding, delimbing, and loading a load of either logs or wood. We will formulate rules that will keep the playing field level as to size of trees and etc."

"The entry fee to the contest will be that the Logging Contractor donate his cut and haul money on that load of logs to the contest," Taylor elaborated. "Half of the logger's cut and haul money will go into the prize money pot while the other half will go to the Log-A-Load for Kids program. We will add money to the prize money pot so that the winners will come away with a hefty amount of prize money."

"The whole event in October should be a fun time for the logging and forestry community," Taylor added. "We want this event to be a good time for equipment dealers to showcase their equipment and for everyone in the industry to benefit from a gathering of loggers."

Explaining why Natchitoches, Louisiana was chosen as the site for the Logging Championship and Forestry Extravaganza, Taylor said, "Natchitoches has been the destination for travelers since 1714. It's an interesting place to visit plus the forest industry is a big part of the local economy."

"You have three major wood-using manufacturers in Natchitoches parish," Taylor pointed out. "Weyerhaeuser has both the Red River Paper Mill at Campti plus TrusJoist in Natchitoches. In addition, Martco has a huge plant at Chopin and there are other chip mills in the area, and a little ways up the road is IP's Mansfield Paper Mill."

"Also, the Kisatchie National Forest is a big player in the area," Taylor noted. "We would like to offer some side tours of the Kisatchie to some of our visitors. Another thing that is long over due in the forest industry is a salute to Caroline Dorman. She was really the 'Mother" of the Kisatchie National Forest. All of her books, paintings and papers are in the archives at Northwestern."

Added attractions planned for the event include the establishment of a Loggers Hall of Fame; a salute to Loggers who lost their lives in logging related accidents and an Oral History of Logging seminar conducted by Dr. John Price. All retired and semi-retired loggers who would like to tell their own personal stories of their days in the logging woods are invited to attend the seminar on October 17 & 18.

A whole array of other events is being discussed as additions to the main event, the Ark-La-Tex Logging Championships. An Antique Log Truck and Tractor show is being considered and a 'Mrs. Hardhat Contest' which would be open to Ladies who are employed in the Forest industry. Also, plenty of live entertainment will be part of the overall Extravaganza.

The Piney Woods Journal is one of the sponsoring organizers of the Ark-La-Tex Logging Championships and Forestry Extravaganza. The Journal will carry an update each month of the plans and schedule for the Logging Championships and Extravaganza.

Of particular interest at this point is to compile a list of those loggers who have been killed in the line of duty. If any of the Journal readers are aware of people who were killed in logging accidents, please write to the Journal with that information.

The Journal is planning a special edition to commemorate the first Ark-La-Tex Logging Championships.

Also, a Planning Committee has been formed to help coordinate the event. The first meeting of the Planning Committee has been set for Wednesday, June 4, at 2 P.M. at the Natchitoches Chamber of Commerce office on Second Street in downtown Natchitoches near the fire station.

For more information, questions, or suggestions about the Ark-La-Tex Logging Championships and Forestry Extravaganza, please contract the Journal at journal@thepineywoods.com

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