By JACK M. WILLIS
Journal Correspondent

On the weekend of August 27-29, at the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Caskey Terral of Farmerville, Union Parish Louisiana, was presented the prestigious Logger of the Year award by the LFA-affiliated Louisiana Logging Council. The award came during the LLC annual banquet, a part of the Louisiana Forestry Association's 55th annual convention program.

Even though Caskey is only 34 years old, he is no novice when it comes to the utilization of heavy equipment to earn a living. His father, Rannie Terral, was an Associated General Construction contractor for over 37 years, going into the contracting business in 1950, and retiring in 1987. Some of his completed projects such as the Winn Parish Courthouse, Winnfield Senior High School, and Joe Aillett Stadium at Louisiana Tech lend credibility to his reputation as an accomplished building contractor. When he was awarded the Tech stadium contract, the coaching staff at Louisiana Tech asked Mr. Terral to please hurry with the completion of the stadium because Terry Bradshaw had been recruited to play ball for the university, and they wanted to have it ready for his gridiron debut. As it turned out, he did, and Terry played out his entire collegiate career in the then new stadium, named for one of Tech's most successful and respected football coaches.

When Caskey was asked about his unusual first or given name, he pridefully replied, "That's my mother's maiden name. Her father, my granddaddy, John Henry Caskey is 91 years old, lives by himself, still mows his yard and tends his own garden."

Caskey Terral was born in Ruston, Louisiana on October 12th, 1967. The family later moved to Farmerville where Caskey graduated Farmerville High School in 1985. In the fall of 1985 and extending into 1986, he began attending Northeast Louisiana University majoring in building construction.

Between semesters, Caskey contracted to haul long wood for International Paper Company to their mill in Bastrop. The company representatives were so well pleased with his efforts that they offered him permanent employment, a position which he held until 1999, when he went into the contracting business for himself.

Meanwhile Caskey had gotten married to the former Michelle Brian, and they now have four children, Jonathan, Samuel, Mary Elizabeth and Henry, aged two to 10. He is a strong Christian, and is very active in his church.

Then in 1999 Caskey came to one of life's forks in the road. Willamette Industries offered him a job with their company, and Caskey prayerfully considered a lot of factors before making his final choice. His children were enrolled in Ruston schools at the time, so he decided to go with Willamette. Weyerhaeuser later purchased Willamette, and when other companies seem to be having many problems competing in the world markets, Weyerhaeuser's management practices have turned Caskey's fortunes around.

Operating for Willamette he had been on quota, but under the Weyerhaeuser umbrella, he's been able to maintain a six days a week hauling schedule, and for the last few weeks, he's been running "hammer down" seven days a week.

Caskey firmly believes the timber industry is one of the main contributors to the economy of a given region, and he wishes in the future that logging contractors like him could be acknowledged for their efforts toward that end.

He is determined to maintain a good attitude concerning the future of the timber industry, and his main concern every day is operating his various jobs in a safe, efficient manner. Like many wood product manufacturers today, Weyerhaeuser urges utilization of the entire tree, and in doing so, they attempt to use everything but the pine needles, thus in acting in the role of pulp producer, job quality means a lot to Caskey.

In discussing the reception of the pending award he stated, "When I'm presented the award, I'll be accepting it for ALL of my employees. Like a chain, a company is only as strong as it's weakest link. I like to believe that every one of my employees are precious to me, and I don't think I have any weak links on the payroll."

Words of praise for his employees from a grateful employer!

Judges for the LFA Outstanding Logger of the Year for 2002 were Dr. Clyde Vidrine, retired professor of forestry, Louisiana Tech University; Tim Bond, USDA Forest Service; Lowell Hubbard, Logger of the Year for 2001; and Dr. Dan Deckard, Louisiana Tech School of Forestry.

The team judged seven nominees from around Louisiana. Dr. Vidrine said of Terral, "His logging operation is versatile. He is prepared to operate in thinning or clearcuts, and his operation allowed for merchandising in order to get maximum economic value of the prodyucts harvested.

Terral has seven employees in the woods, and a bookkeeper. He works closely with Scotty Booth and Reggie Hammons of Weyerhaeuser Corporation. "We use Caskey with a lot of private sales - people that know him and trust him to do a good job," Booth said.

Caskey is a Louisiana Master Logger, completing the 30 hours of classroom and field instruction in safety, erosion control, OSHA regulations, recommended guides for harvesting, and business manager. He is a member of the Louisiana Logging Council.

Back