ASSOCIATION NEWS

PLC Announces 2005 Officers and Convention Date
The Pacific Logging Congress (PLC) announced the officers for year 2005. The elected group consists of Ralph Torney, President; Ed Hanscom, 1st Vice President; Jim Petersen, 2nd Vice President; Toby Murray, 4th Vice President; Ron Simon, Treasurer; and 2004 Immediate Past President Allen Ribelin. The new officers will work closely with the PLC Board of Directors and staff in preparation for the 2005 convention to be held at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, B.C., Canada, October 3-6, 2005. For more information on the conference, call (425) 413-2808 or go online at www.pacificloggingcongress.com. PLC also kicked off the largest educational program in its 89-year history, producing a 32-page, full-color brochure on forestry and logging in the West. Included is a 17-minute video explaining the same story. Currently over 20,000 videos and brochures have been given to teachers throughout the United States and British Columbia, and will reach over 2 million-plus students each semester.

ACL Continues Work on Fire Investigations
The Associated California Loggers (ACL) continues its work to have fire investigations regarding fires originating on logging operations, but where there was no negligence on the part of the logger, closed quickly so that any insurance reserve can be removed. ACL reports that very few fires are started on logging operations and the few that occur seem to frighten risk-conscious insurance underwriters. It’s the underwriters' unease that threatens the availability of liability coverage for loggers.

Highways and Water in Idaho
The Idaho Logger reported that Gov. Dirk Kempthorne outlined several key issues for legislators to debate this spring. Topmost was the launching of a massive building of highways throughout the state funded by bonds. This would enable construction projects to move forward more quickly and possibly cost less. Another topic was the ratification of the Nez Perce agreement. This issue deals with the claim of the Nez Perce on the water in the Snake River, and its impact on the Snake River Basin. The Federal government has agreed to fund the settlement, and now the settlement must be ratified by the Idaho legislature by March 31.

Ancestral Trees
The American Forest Resource Council reported in its February newsletter that a bill to create a new statutory definition of "Ancestral Trees" on DNR managed land trusts hit the capital. These are defined as ". . . trees that are one hundred fifty years old or older and that exist in the forest community that is characterized with large standing trees, large nags, large logs on the land, and, if applicable, larger logs in streams." The bill also prohibits DNR from harvesting or selling those trees. The bill, the AFRC says, is many undefined terms and is inconsistent with DNR’s Habitat Conservation Plan.

AOL Honors and Awards
At the Associated Oregon Loggers (AOL) 35th annual convention awards banquet in January, a number of individuals were recognized for their outstanding contributions. Ted Lacock of CFP Inc. was awarded for his work in the creation and growth of AOL’s health insurance program. The program has grown to over $10 million in premiums under his leadership. Cathy Phillips of C.F. Laughlin Logging Co. received the AOLWoman of the Year award. Cathy is AOL’s District One Rep and was recently elected Chairman of the Willamina/Tillamook Chapter. Bob Ragon of Ragon & Sons Logging and Peach Morgan of Morgan and Engle, Inc. were named Co-Chapter Chairs of the Year. Bob was also instrumental in forming the Communities for Healthy Forests, a grassroots organization pursuing changes in how post-catastrophic fires are salvaged and restored on federal lands. The Logger of the Year award went to third-generation logger Rod Surcamp of Surco Log, Inc. Besides being a hands-on logger and good businessman, he is AOL’s District Four Rep, regularly attending Executive Committee meetings, and has made trips to lobby Congress on behalf of AOL.

OWIT raise $96,000
The Oregon Women in Timber was able to raise a record $96,000 for its Talk About Trees educational program at the Oregon Logging Conference this past February.

PPRC’s 14th Fly-In
The Pulp and Paperworkers’ Resource Council’s (PPRC) 14th annual legislative fly-in took place in February in Washington, D.C. The theme was "Workers unite to fight for jobs." "The main purpose is to educate elected officials on the issues affecting our jobs in the forest products industry and to let them know that there is a balance to be found: we can have both a good environment and our jobs," says PPRC coordinator Michelle Labadie. Topics discussed were the high cost of energy and its effect on the pulp, paper and wood products industry; the Endangered Species Act and needed reforms; and fiber supply. "We know the fly-ins are working," Labadie says, "because we’re getting into offices we’ve never been able to get into before and because the legislators are listening. They’ve worked with us on issues such as the Healthy Forests Initiative, for example, the over-valuation of the dollar, truck weight limits, and the EPA’s air and water Cluster Rule."

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