Olympic Logging Conference: Success Once Again

Attendance hits over the 200 mark

By Sheila Ringdahl

In recent years, the Olympic Logging Conference has been holding steady in attendance but this year they surpassed the "average" and climbed over the two hundred mark. The Keynote Speaker, John Carlson, from KVI Radio, strongly encouraged those in the logging business to stand up and be heard, not only in their communities but also through the media, state and at the national level. This year’s conference theme was "Forest Trusts, What Are Our Opportunities."

Thursday was packed for two panel discussions that covered what are forest trusts and how do they operate. Basically, the forest trust board will negotiate with private landowners to acquire forested property at fair market value; they will then design conservation easements and a land management plan that will exceed Circle Reader Service Card 133 state and federal environmental regulations.

The land will be managed under a conservation plan, and the proceeds from the sale of timber will go toward repaying the bonds. More and more land is being sold to these organizations, creating a demand for "seasoned" loggers. On Friday, Jack Zaccardo spoke on logging history in the Olympic Peninsula region. He also presented a variety of historical photographs representing a sampling from his library of over 4,000 photos. In the afternoon, there were four presentations on "What’s new in the Timber Industry."

Dave Wellman of Timberjack Corp. introduced the 1490D Slash Bundler which has been operating in Scandinavia for some time and will now be released in the states this fall. Bill Hermann of Pondray Valley Fibre shared a new process and technology that connects to a HewSaw and nearly tripled his production.

Ralph Torney, Canadian Air-Crane, showed a film on how they broke down a CAT, flew it to a remote location and Heli-logged the area. Lastly, Peter Heide of Washington Forest Protection Assoc. discussed about the importance of culvert and bridge solutions. The OLC Conference continues to educate the members about new products, history and the ever-so changing life of a logger. Congratulations and we’ll see you next year.

TW

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