By Mike Wiedeman, ALC President
The difference between success and failure is a razors edge. It is an obvious conclusion that effort is the tipping point deciding whether an endeavor is going to have a positive outcome. After all, everyone knows that the harder you work, the harder you work, when in actuality it is planning that determines success.
Trees are not mushrooms, they don’t just pop out of the ground in the middle of the night ready to be harvested.
Good loggers that are resilient and creative don’t just materialize out of thin air.
Equipment manufactures can’t meet ever changing standards that constantly mutate at the whim of politicians.
Processors can’t compete in global markets when they have one hand tied behind their back and a playing field that makes the Rocky Mountains look like a pool table.
The people managing the forests in this country are like the farmer who makes moonshine out of the seed corn. It might taste pretty good going down but when you sober up you better be ready for a long term hangover.
Forests in this country are no longer managed by professional foresters they are either managed by Wall Street bankers (private) or some Federal judge that doesn’t know the difference between a fir tree and a rhubarb plant.
We have professional foresters in this country that know how to manage timberland not only for the present but for future generations as well. We can’t continue to litigate every decision made concerning forest management and then procrastinate when it comes to remedies. Americas’ forests deserve better and so do the rural communities that are dependent on them.
It is time to return decision making to the local level. Absentee ownership makes for a poor steward. It is time that the politicians and judiciary learned that trees are a crop! In this time of never ending Federal and state budget woes our public forests should be treated as the valuable asset that they are instead of a sink hole for scarce resources.
It has truly been an honor to serve as President of the American Loggers Council. I don’t know whether it is the effect of getting a little older but this year has raced by. As I have traveled around the country I have had my faith in the long term health of the logging industry restored. Thank you all for the generous hospitality that you have shown Sandy and I. It has been our pleasure to serve you.
Mike Weideman is the President of the American Loggers Council, which represents over 50,000 logging professionals in 30 states. Mike’s operation, BTO Logging, is headquartered in Enterprise, Oregon. For more information please contact the American Loggers Council office at 409-625-0206 or e-mail at americanlogger@aol.com.