October 23, 2002

Duluth, Minnesota - Over 250 loggers, manufacturers, suppliers and forest industry representatives from 24 states met for four days in Minnesota to review their progress and set their course for 2002.

Kicking off the annual event was the Annual Board meeting that resulted in the unanimous decision to go forward with a national sponsorship of a hunting and fishing program entitled “Focus Outdoors” designed to represent logging professionals across the Nation. This show, once begun, will be a key tool in promoting the benefits of timber harvesting for wildlife management, and will include an educational segment that will help teach the public about good forest stewardship and timber harvesting.

In other official action, the ALC Board unanimously approved, based on recommendation by the Master Logger Certification© committee, South Carolina and Arkansas’ Master Logger templates. Both states will now be able to move forward with their Master Logger Programs, and now nine states including Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Washington, Oregon and California are now well on their way to making the Master Logger Certification© program a reality.

The General Session provided an excellent opportunity to hear speakers identifying strategies for forming important alliances and coalitions. The meeting theme: “United We Stand Partnerships for Progress” was addressed by speakers including Bruce Vincent with the Provider Pals© program, Bob Stallman, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, Jim Swearingen with US Steel Corporation and MINTAC and Don Wesson the Vice Chairman of the Pulp and Paperworkers Resource Council.

The General Membership meeting included 3 guest speakers from Finland, New Zealand and Canada. They included Simo Jaakkola, Nelson Ede and Brian Peterson respectively. All three gave excellent presentations on logger issues in their respective countries, which seemed to focus on two general themes; public perception of the logging industry and profitability.

President Birchem presented four President’s Awards for Commitment to Excellence and the American Loggers Council. The recipients were Don Peterson and Sandy Brawders for their commitment to the Master Logger Certification© program, Jim Geisinger for his help and resourcefulness in working on the ALC Eagle publication and Lenny Johnson for her efforts in working with the ALC to promote this years annual meeting.

The Timber Harvesting Magazine 2002 Logging Business of the Year Award went to Tommy Burch of B & W Logging, Inc., Brookeland, Texas. DK Knight of Hatton-Brown publications made the presentation for the 4th straight year.

Meeting attendees also had the opportunity to experience the Minnesota logging tour sponsored by John Deere which featured an in the woods lunch and a visit to Dave Johnson’s, owner of Johnson Timber Harvesting, logging site.

In his farewell address, outgoing President Birchem addressed the membership as to the accomplishments and goals of the ALC and urged them to go forward, always looking for ways to do more.

The meeting culminated with Jerry Birchem passing the gavel to 2002/2003 President Bob Luoto of Carlton, Oregon.

Founded in 1994, The American Loggers Council is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization. Nationally representing 50,000 professional loggers, ALC was formed to enhance the logging profession; provide a unified voice on logging issues; cooperate with public, industrial, and private timberland owners to further sustainable forestry practices. For more information please contact Danny Dructor, Executive Vice President at 281-432-7167, email americanlogger@aol.com  or visit the ALC website at www.americanloggers.org  American Loggers Council, P.O. Box 2109, Cleveland, Texas 77328

Don Wesson Pulp and Paperworkers Resource Council PPRC Vice Chairman PPRC Southern Pine Regional Director PACE Local 5-1533 Vice President P.O. Box 127 Arkansas City, AR 71630 870-877-3330 Fax: 870-877-3329 Don.Wesson@Potlatchcorp.com  www.pprcsouth.org

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