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ASSOCIATION NEWS

Simpson Honored for Activism

The FRA awarded its 2012 National Outstanding Forestry Activist Award to the late Ellen Simpson, who served as Executive Director of the Montana Wood Products Association for over ten years. Ellen passed away, following a long struggle with cancer, on March 23.

Dave Simpson accepts award on behalf of his wife Ellen Simpson.

Ellen’s surviving husband, Dave Simpson, accepted the award on her behalf. FRA Chairman Dick Carmical praised Ellen’s vigorous and effective work in speaking up for the forest industry and the communities it supports in the Intermountain West. Ellen’s political savvy, communication skills, and natural resource knowledge guided the Montana forest industry through many very difficult issues, both at the state and federal legislative levels. Her insistence that the industry always maintain the high ground as professional, pro-active, and community-oriented businesses, was the ethic through which she led by example.

Hawkinson Hired as FRA President

Forest Resources Association Chair-man Dick Carmical announced that FRA has hired Deb Hawkinson to replace FRA President Richard Lewis, effective on Lewis’s scheduled retirement on July 2, 2012.

As Executive Director of the Washington, DC-based Hardwood Federation since 2007, Hawkinson expanded that organization’s government relations and communications capacities, as well as member participation. Prior to that, she spent seven years with increasing responsibilities at the American Forest & Paper Association, eventually as Director, Issues Management, overseeing political involvement programs and grassroots communication, following a 14-year stint with Weyerhaeuser in their Federal Affairs office in Washington, DC.

“FRA plays a key role in representing the interests and promoting the success of its members, from the forest landowner to the wood supplier and wood consumer,” said Hawkinson. “I’m thrilled to be joining the team, and I’m looking forward to working with FRA’s members to continue building a strong future for the organization and its membership.”

ALC Visits Capitol Hill to Discuss Issues

As part of their effort to educate lawmakers and federal agency personnel on the key issues important to professional timber harvesters across the U.S., over 50 representatives from the American Loggers Council traveled to Washington, D.C. on March 22-24 to meet with their representatives and various agencies to discuss those issues.

ALC members made 103 visits to the Hill, as well as meeting with U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, the Department of Transportation, and other agencies. Topics discussed included the ongoing litigation and policy work on the Forest Roads National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, truck weight proposals in the Transportation Bill, Youth in Logging Careers, the U.S. Forest Service Budget, and payments to counties and schools from federal timber sale receipts.

ALC Executive Vice President Danny Dructor commented that “this is, by far, the best turnout that we have had in the history of the ALC on our trips to Washington. I am extremely pleased with the work that was done over the past few days and look for increased communications between members of Congress and the American Loggers Council as we move forward.”

The OLC Makes the Top 250 Trade Show List

The 2011 Oregon Logging Conference ranked 46th on the 2011 TSNN Top 250 Trade Show list. The OLC has remained on the top 250 trade show list for the past 20 years.

The list is culled from show management and data supplied to TSNN and represents the top 250 trade shows held last year in the U.S., ranked by net square footage.

2011 ConExpo Con/Agg (held every three years in Las Vegas, Nevada) was once again ranked number one.