.gif)
ASTORIA, Ore. – Two North Coast logging firms have been honored for their logging practices with an Award of Merit from the Northwest Oregon Regional Forest Practices Committee, an advisory body to the Oregon Board of Forestry.
Owner Mike Falleur and his crew at Warrenton-based F and B Logging were honored because of their innovative approach to pumping water from logging road ditches and letting it filter through vegetation or logging slash to remove sediment before it reaches streams.
Andrew Marshall, owner of Marshall Logging in Tillamook, was recognized for work he did to protect a popular hiking trail and trees targeted to remain while harvesting a highly visible timber tract on OSU’s McDonald-Dunn Experimental Forest just outside Corvallis.
The Committee’s top honor of Operator of the Year for Northwest Oregon went to Aaron Silbernagel, owner of All Around Logging, LLC of Stayton in Marion County for his work helping small landowners salvage log and reforest in the wake of the 2020 Beachie Creek Fire.
The Oregon Board of Forestry will recognize awardees at its Jan. 5 meeting in Salem.
Regional Forest Practices committees select the operators of the year and merit award recipients from among nominees sent in by landowners, ODF staff and others. The award recognizes forest operators who, while harvesting timber or doing other forestry work, protect natural resources at a level that goes above and beyond requirements of the Oregon Forest Practices Act. That law requires people to manage forests responsibly and protect streams and water quality, protect and enhance habitat, and reduce landslide risks. The law also requires landowners to replant forests after harvesting. The awards honor operators who consistently meet or exceed Forest Practices Act regulations. Videos about each of the three Operators of the Year and five Merit Award winners can be viewed on the ODF website at https://www.oregon.gov/odf/Working/Pages/default.aspx
ODF Forest Resources Division Interim Chief Josh Barnard said, “This year’s honorees represent innovation to protect water quality, care in harvesting that leaves an overcrowded forest in a safer, healthier state, and helping others begin to recover in the wake of devastating wildfire. They have shown an outstanding ability to meet landowner objectives while exercising extraordinary care and diligence in challenging harvesting situations. From protecting streams while logging where it rains 90 inches a year to carefully removing fire-ravaged trees from a beloved family campground, we’re pleased to recognize the leadership and community spirit these operators have shown.”
Oregon enacted the Forest Practices Act in 1971 as a national model for forest management laws. The law focuses on ensuring responsible forest operations and protecting natural resources in forestland. The Act has been updated many times based on new scientific information and values to create a balanced approach to natural resource management.
