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News Release

Oregon Department Of Forestry Announces That Two Lane County Logging Firms Have Earned Awards Of Merit (Photo) - 11/13/24

EUGENE, Ore. – Two Lane County logging firms – Card Logging of Eugene and Weyerhaeuser’s Springfield Tree Farm logging and road-building crews – have each earned an Award of Merit for difficult timber harvests done in the aftermath of last January’s devastating ice storm. 

The companies were selected from among nominations submitted to the Oregon Dept. of Forestry (ODF). The Northwest Regional Forest Practices Committee, which advises the Oregon Board of Forestry on forest practice matters, chose the two companies to receive Awards of Merit as part of the annual Operator of the Year program administered by ODF.

Details of what each company did to earn the awards are below:

  • Card Logging Company, Inc., based in Eugene. The firm earned its award for harvesting an ice-storm-damaged stand of timber in the Coast Range. Card used tethered logging and hand cutting to protect a stream buffer while minimizing disturbance to a neighboring retreat center. View a video of the company’s achievement at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YWFP9zqDxA
  • Weyerhaeuser’s Springfield Tree Farm and its employee logging and road-building crews. They were honored for salvage logging after the January 2024 ice storm. They logged the steep hillside of immature trees just outside Springfield next to a busy county road and near homes and the McKenzie River. The harvest reduced fire risk and enabled the parcel to be safely reforested. View a video of the company’s work at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUgMYdaJ0P0

In addition, the Committee named R.D. Reeves Construction, based in Rainier in Columbia County, as Operator of the Year for Northwest Oregon. View a video of the firm’s work at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUsBwxBZiEo

Other regional Operator of the Year honorees were:

The award recognizes forest operators who, while harvesting timber or doing other forestry work, protect natural resources at a level that consistently meets or 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. 

ODF Forest Resources Division Chief Josh Barnard said, “There were so many great nominees to pick from this year, it made the work of the selection committees very hard.”

Barnard said nominees showed they could meet the challenge of working under new rules that came into effect this year. The updated Oregon Forest Practices Act rules provide more protection for forest resources, such as wider stream buffers and limitations on equipment use around tributaries of fish-bearing streams. 

“We saw a lot of innovative technology and techniques being used to protect water quality. On challenging harvesting sites, the Operators of the Year showed extraordinary care and diligence to protect resources and meet landowner objectives. We’re proud to recognize those efforts.”

The Northwest Oregon Regional Forest Practices Committee also gave Merit Awards to three other companies for work done in Northwest Oregon forests.

  • Chilton Logging, Inc., nominated for harvesting a steep mountainside wedged between the East Fork of the Hood River and Green Point Creek near Hood River.
  • Haley Construction Company of Lebanon, Ore. for installing a 125-foot-long bridge that replaced an in-stream low-water crossing through salmon-bearing Elk Creek, eliminating vehicles in the creek. The project involved safely transporting the long beams along a narrow, twisting two-lane road.
  • Mt St Helens Reforestation, Inc. for reforesting with millions of new seedlings Weyerhaeuser land in Clackamas County that had burned in the Riverside Fire, one of the Labor Day megafires of 2020. The firm’s crews planted in four years what had been thought would take at least five.

* 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.

                                                        # # #

Attached Media Files: Weston Tilton and Emily Caretti of Weyerhaeuser's Springfield Tree Farm look over a parcel the company's own logging team harvested after a devastating January 2024 ice storm. The work reduced fire risk and enabled replanting, helping earn an Award of Merit from the Northwest Oregon Regional Forest Practices Committee. , Colt Ulam of Card Logging points out how the company minimized soil disturbance in a post-ice storm logging operation in the Coast Range. The company earned an Award of Merit for the work from the Northwest Oregon Regional Forest Practices Committee, an advisory group to the Oregon Board of Forestry.,

Oregon Department Of Forestry Announces That Two Lane County Logging Firms Have Earned Awards Of Merit (Photo) - 11/13/24

EUGENE, Ore. – Two Lane County logging firms – Card Logging of Eugene and Weyerhaeuser’s Springfield Tree Farm logging and road-building crews – have each earned an Award of Merit for difficult timber harvests done in the aftermath of last January’s devastating ice storm. 

The companies were selected from among nominations submitted to the Oregon Dept. of Forestry (ODF). The Northwest Regional Forest Practices Committee, which advises the Oregon Board of Forestry on forest practice matters, chose the two companies to receive Awards of Merit as part of the annual Operator of the Year program administered by ODF.

Details of what each company did to earn the awards are below:

  • Card Logging Company, Inc., based in Eugene. The firm earned its award for harvesting an ice-storm-damaged stand of timber in the Coast Range. Card used tethered logging and hand cutting to protect a stream buffer while minimizing disturbance to a neighboring retreat center. View a video of the company’s achievement at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YWFP9zqDxA
  • Weyerhaeuser’s Springfield Tree Farm and its employee logging and road-building crews. They were honored for salvage logging after the January 2024 ice storm. They logged the steep hillside of immature trees just outside Springfield next to a busy county road and near homes and the McKenzie River. The harvest reduced fire risk and enabled the parcel to be safely reforested. View a video of the company’s work at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUgMYdaJ0P0

In addition, the Committee named R.D. Reeves Construction, based in Rainier in Columbia County, as Operator of the Year for Northwest Oregon. View a video of the firm’s work at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUsBwxBZiEo

Other regional Operator of the Year honorees were:

The award recognizes forest operators who, while harvesting timber or doing other forestry work, protect natural resources at a level that consistently meets or 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. 

ODF Forest Resources Division Chief Josh Barnard said, “There were so many great nominees to pick from this year, it made the work of the selection committees very hard.”

Barnard said nominees showed they could meet the challenge of working under new rules that came into effect this year. The updated Oregon Forest Practices Act rules provide more protection for forest resources, such as wider stream buffers and limitations on equipment use around tributaries of fish-bearing streams. 

“We saw a lot of innovative technology and techniques being used to protect water quality. On challenging harvesting sites, the Operators of the Year showed extraordinary care and diligence to protect resources and meet landowner objectives. We’re proud to recognize those efforts.”

The Northwest Oregon Regional Forest Practices Committee also gave Merit Awards to three other companies for work done in Northwest Oregon forests.

  • Chilton Logging, Inc., nominated for harvesting a steep mountainside wedged between the East Fork of the Hood River and Green Point Creek near Hood River.
  • Haley Construction Company of Lebanon, Ore. for installing a 125-foot-long bridge that replaced an in-stream low-water crossing through salmon-bearing Elk Creek, eliminating vehicles in the creek. The project involved safely transporting the long beams along a narrow, twisting two-lane road.
  • Mt St Helens Reforestation, Inc. for reforesting with millions of new seedlings Weyerhaeuser land in Clackamas County that had burned in the Riverside Fire, one of the Labor Day megafires of 2020. The firm’s crews planted in four years what had been thought would take at least five.

* 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.

                                                        # # #

Attached Media Files: Weston Tilton and Emily Caretti of Weyerhaeuser's Springfield Tree Farm look over a parcel the company's own logging team harvested after a devastating January 2024 ice storm. The work reduced fire risk and enabled replanting, helping earn an Award of Merit from the Northwest Oregon Regional Forest Practices Committee. , Colt Ulam of Card Logging points out how the company minimized soil disturbance in a post-ice storm logging operation in the Coast Range. The company earned an Award of Merit for the work from the Northwest Oregon Regional Forest Practices Committee, an advisory group to the Oregon Board of Forestry.,