By Jonathan Dingler
Journal Correspondent

• Marshall TX

Logging contractors, equipment dealers, and industry representatives as well as others in the forest industry met July 29-30 at the East Texas Conference Center in Marshall, TX for the Texas Logging Council's 2005 State Meeting.

The meeting provided an opportunity for networking among TLC members and non-members alike who joined together to discuss issues facing the industry.

At the Friday night dinner and awards presentation, Bill Hawthorne of Marshall, received the prestigious honor as, "Texas Logging Council's 2005 Outstanding Logger of the Year". Paul Hale, Texas Logging Council Coordinator, described Hawthorne as "a man of high standards who does quality work in his logging business." Hawthorne is a logging contractor who harvests timber primarily for Snider Industries, but participates in private logging operations as well. He has been in the timber harvesting business more than 32 years, and is a member of the Texas Logging Council and Texas Forestry Association.

Hawthorne was among five candidates for Outstanding Logger of the Year. He will compete with winners of several other state competitions in the Southern Region Outstanding Logger competition held by the Forest Resources Association. The winner of that will compete in the national competition, which takes place in the fall.

Also honored at the meeting was Texas Logging Council President, James Nutt, who received the "President's Award" in appreciation for his outstanding service as TLC president since 2002.

On Saturday, several speakers were on hand to discuss various topics associated with the industry. Among them was Clyde Todd, Executive Director of the Southern Loggers Cooperative. The SLC is a non-profit organization created in October 2004 to help combat escalating costs faced by southern loggers. The idea is to reduce logging costs by volume purchasing of services, supplies, and equipment.

Presently the Southern Loggers Cooperative has several contracts for cooperative buying including fuel agreements with Lott Oil of Natchitoches, LA and Lard Oil of Denham Springs, LA. Fuel stations are under construction in Winnfield and Mansfield, LA, and more stations are in the planning process in Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas.

Along with fuel savings, members can benefit from the co-op's purchasing power when buying hydraulic and motor oil, parts, insurance, seedlings, and prescription drugs among other items. Todd noted that with rising prices across the industry, contractors may reduce operating costs by membership in the Cooperative. For information, loggers and other qualified persons may call 318-641-8081. The Council is based in Tioga, near Alexandria in Central Louisiana and is inviting membership from across the South.

Also addressing the meeting was Jake Donnelin, Staff Forester with the Texas Forest Service, who provided a BMP implementation update to attendees. BMP's (Best Management Practices) are activities conducted by contractors in a forest management operation that minimize negative residual effects to the land. This results in improved water quality as well as other benefits to the landscape including enhanced aesthetic properties, wildlife habitat, and forest productivity.

Texas established the Best Management Practices in 1989, and annually selects at random certain harvest operations to evaluate for implementation and effectiveness. Donnelin noted that this year the evaluations determined Texas to be around 92 percent compliant. The two biggest areas of non-compliance were failure to stabilize stream crossings on temporary roads and failure to remove logging debris from streams.

At one point in the presentation the question arose as to what the benefits of BMP's are compared to the costs to contractors. Donnelin replied that presently Best Management Practices are voluntary, but if compliance rates were significantly lower, special interests would seek to regulate forest management operations, which would lead to more time, money, and bureaucracy required for harvests.

American Logging Council Director, Danny Dructor, also addressed the meeting on Saturday. Dructor discussed among other things a hearing by the Congressional Task Force on Improving NEPA which took place in Nacogdoches, TX one week earlier. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to integrate environmental values into their decision making processes by considering the environmental impacts of their proposed actions and reasonable alternatives to those actions. To meet this requirement, federal agencies prepare a detailed statement known as an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

Dructor discussed how the NEPA regulations were outdated and out of touch with the realities of forest management. He cited a 1998 storm in East Texas that devastated a substantial amount of forestland saying, "In one afternoon, nature did more clearcutting on the National Forests in Texas than the Forest Service had performed in the previous decade. Because of high humidity and high temperatures associated with our region, there was no time to prepare an EIS to analyze the effects removing the damaged timber before blue stain, insect damage and rot would cause the downed timber to deteriorate, losing all commercial value."

Luckily in this case, forest managers were allowed under a special exemption to harvest more than 106 million board feet from the national forest land which helped to reduce the threat of wildfire by reducing hazardous fuel loads. Also the forest management activities improved wildlife habitat for sensitive species like the bobwhite quail, red-cockaded woodpecker, and bald eagle which benefit from managed stands of timber with an open understory.

By minimizing the burdensome EIS process, Dructor noted that forestland managers across the nation could more effectively do their job improving the nation's natural resources while benefiting the general economy by creating jobs and revenue, a portion of which returns to the communities through the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 which returns funds to states with national forests.

Other speakers addressing the TLC meeting included Ron Hufford of the Texas Forestry Association, Ed Small of Jackson Walker L.L.P. in Austin, TX, and Steve Barnett of Bituminous Insurance Companies in San Antonio among others. Attendees who qualify under the Texas Pro Logger program received six hours of continuing education credit for the meeting and all who attended received valuable information concerning issues facing the logging industry in Texas. For information about membership in the Texas Logging Council contact Coordinator Paul Hale at 903-728-5738.

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