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News Release

Oregon Department Of Forestry Announces Wood River Timber Of Klamath Falls Is 2026’s Top Forest Operator For Eastern Oregon (Photo) - 11/10/26

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Wood River Timber, Inc., headquartered in Klamath Falls, is one of three logging companies chosen as Operator of the Year for their respective region of Oregon. The Eastern Oregon regional advisory committees to the Oregon Board of Forestry honored Wood River last month as its top choice for Operator of the Year for parts of the state east of the Cascades.

Wood River Timber and other recipients will be recognized in Salem at the January meeting of the Board. The other honorees are: 

  • Northwest Oregon — Iron Horse Logging, Inc., out of Mapleton, Ore. in Lane County
  • Southwest Oregon — Lone Rock Logging based in Roseburg, Ore.

The award recognizes forest operators who, while harvesting timber or doing other forestry work, have a track record of protecting natural resources and improving forest health at a level that consistently meets or exceeds requirements of the Oregon Forest Practices Act *. The Act 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.  

 

Videos about each of the three Operators of the Year and three Merit Award winners can be viewed on the ODF website at https://www.oregon.gov/odf/Working/Pages/default.aspx 

 

Eastern Oregon 

Wood River Timber, Inc., was named Operator of the Year for Eastern Oregon for the company’s many efforts to help small landowners improve the health of their forestland while reducing catastrophic wildfire risk. The selection committee cited owner Ray Driscoll for the time he spends educating landowners and providing a quality harvest while meeting the landowners’ objectives. One project that committee members cited, in particular, was his work thinning overcrowded ponderosa pine on two adjoining parcels west of Klamath Falls. The selection committee agreed the work was a great example of skillful logging that protected trees one landowner wanted retained while removing juniper and enough other trees to open up the forest floor to grazing by cattle and wildlife. The thinning also reduced the risk of devastating wildfire.

 

Landowner Karen Crawford praised Wood River’s owner Ray Driscoll for the meticulous attention he paid to felling each tree and removing it without damaging trees to be left. “He was very meticulous in his operation. It’s been a year and you can barely see skid trails, everything looks fantastic.”

 

ODF Forest Resources Division Chief Josh Barnard said, “the selection committees had excellent candidates this year when choosing who they would honor, all of whom showed they went to great lengths to protect the forest environment.”

 

Barnard said nominees showed they could meet the challenge of working under new harvesting rules. The updated Oregon Forest Practices Act rules provide more protection for forest resources, such as wider buffers for fish-bearing streams and retaining more trees in especially steep areas.  

 

“Many of the harvest sites this year had terrain that was quite challenging,” said Barnard. “The Operators of the Year showed extraordinary care and diligence to protect slopes and streams. We’re proud to recognize those efforts.” 

 

Merit Awards

Merit Awards were also given to three other companies. 

  • Eastern Oregon 

Josh and Jacque Cobb own and operate J and J Timber Resources based in Haines in eastern Oregon’s Baker County. Their company earned the Merit Award for work to improve elk habitat on a federal winter-feeding ground in Baker County. Cobb thinned out an overcrowded ponderosa pine forest to allow more grass and brush to grow between remaining trees, creating better forage for elk and deer. The Cobbs reduce wood waste by sending it to large sawmills to burn as fuel for those mills’ operations. The Cobb’s own small mill provides an outlet for smaller landowners to take log loads that wouldn’t be large enough to interest mills needing greater wood volumes.

  • Northwest Oregon

Perrigo Timber, LLC, based in Warrenton, Ore.

  • Southwest Oregon 

C and M Timberland Resources, LLC, headquartered in Glide, Ore., east of Roseburg.

 

* 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: A regional advisory committee to the Oregon Board of Forestry has selected Klamath Falls-based Wood River Timber, Inc., owned by Ray Driscoll (pictured) as forest operator of the year for eastern Oregon.,

Oregon Department Of Forestry Announces Wood River Timber Of Klamath Falls Is 2026’s Top Forest Operator For Eastern Oregon (Photo) - 11/10/26

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Wood River Timber, Inc., headquartered in Klamath Falls, is one of three logging companies chosen as Operator of the Year for their respective region of Oregon. The Eastern Oregon regional advisory committees to the Oregon Board of Forestry honored Wood River last month as its top choice for Operator of the Year for parts of the state east of the Cascades.

Wood River Timber and other recipients will be recognized in Salem at the January meeting of the Board. The other honorees are: 

  • Northwest Oregon — Iron Horse Logging, Inc., out of Mapleton, Ore. in Lane County
  • Southwest Oregon — Lone Rock Logging based in Roseburg, Ore.

The award recognizes forest operators who, while harvesting timber or doing other forestry work, have a track record of protecting natural resources and improving forest health at a level that consistently meets or exceeds requirements of the Oregon Forest Practices Act *. The Act 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.  

 

Videos about each of the three Operators of the Year and three Merit Award winners can be viewed on the ODF website at https://www.oregon.gov/odf/Working/Pages/default.aspx 

 

Eastern Oregon 

Wood River Timber, Inc., was named Operator of the Year for Eastern Oregon for the company’s many efforts to help small landowners improve the health of their forestland while reducing catastrophic wildfire risk. The selection committee cited owner Ray Driscoll for the time he spends educating landowners and providing a quality harvest while meeting the landowners’ objectives. One project that committee members cited, in particular, was his work thinning overcrowded ponderosa pine on two adjoining parcels west of Klamath Falls. The selection committee agreed the work was a great example of skillful logging that protected trees one landowner wanted retained while removing juniper and enough other trees to open up the forest floor to grazing by cattle and wildlife. The thinning also reduced the risk of devastating wildfire.

 

Landowner Karen Crawford praised Wood River’s owner Ray Driscoll for the meticulous attention he paid to felling each tree and removing it without damaging trees to be left. “He was very meticulous in his operation. It’s been a year and you can barely see skid trails, everything looks fantastic.”

 

ODF Forest Resources Division Chief Josh Barnard said, “the selection committees had excellent candidates this year when choosing who they would honor, all of whom showed they went to great lengths to protect the forest environment.”

 

Barnard said nominees showed they could meet the challenge of working under new harvesting rules. The updated Oregon Forest Practices Act rules provide more protection for forest resources, such as wider buffers for fish-bearing streams and retaining more trees in especially steep areas.  

 

“Many of the harvest sites this year had terrain that was quite challenging,” said Barnard. “The Operators of the Year showed extraordinary care and diligence to protect slopes and streams. We’re proud to recognize those efforts.” 

 

Merit Awards

Merit Awards were also given to three other companies. 

  • Eastern Oregon 

Josh and Jacque Cobb own and operate J and J Timber Resources based in Haines in eastern Oregon’s Baker County. Their company earned the Merit Award for work to improve elk habitat on a federal winter-feeding ground in Baker County. Cobb thinned out an overcrowded ponderosa pine forest to allow more grass and brush to grow between remaining trees, creating better forage for elk and deer. The Cobbs reduce wood waste by sending it to large sawmills to burn as fuel for those mills’ operations. The Cobb’s own small mill provides an outlet for smaller landowners to take log loads that wouldn’t be large enough to interest mills needing greater wood volumes.

  • Northwest Oregon

Perrigo Timber, LLC, based in Warrenton, Ore.

  • Southwest Oregon 

C and M Timberland Resources, LLC, headquartered in Glide, Ore., east of Roseburg.

 

* 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: A regional advisory committee to the Oregon Board of Forestry has selected Klamath Falls-based Wood River Timber, Inc., owned by Ray Driscoll (pictured) as forest operator of the year for eastern Oregon.,