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Adaptability n In response to sawmill closures, the Bardens moved from Florida to Arizona. By Teresa Hannah, President, Caribou Software, and Economics Ph.D. from University of California, Davis EDITOR’s NOTE: Caribou Software submitted this article. Many thanks to the Bardens for being willing to share their story. FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. ★ his past year has been notably challenging for the forest industry, and Northern Florida is no exception. The logging communities there have felt a profound impact following significant operational shifts at two major mills. West Fraser’s decision to indefinitely curtail operations at its Perry sawmill early in 2023, followed later in the year by Georgia-Pacific’s announcement that it would cease production indefinitely at their Perry Foley mill in September, sent shockwaves through the local economy. The cessation of these operations left
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Lucas and Pam Barden, seen here at the Grand Canyon, moved their operations to Arizona after mill closures in Florida last year.
over a thousand employees jobless, and adversely affected numerous logging crews that supplied these mills with essential fiber. The Foley mill, for instance, processed around 1,100 loads of wood weekly, highlighting the magnitude of the impact on local logging contractors. Faced with such significant reductions in demand in such a short period, how do logging operations with
capital assets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars even begin to formulate a plan for survival? This question looms large for many in the logging industry across the U.S. and Canada right now. I had the opportunity to learn about the remarkable response of one such company, Lucas Barden Logging, Inc. from Cross City, Fla., during a completely unexpected chance
Marco gets wood processed for the RFOR Mill.
14 l APRIL 2024 l Southern Loggin’ Times
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encounter at the Oregon Logging Conference in Euguene, Ore. on February 24th. Caribou Software was exhibiting at the conference, showing our Logger’s Edge and Stumpgeek software solutions for loggers and timber dealers, as well as our Log Scaling and Wood Procurement systems for mills. On the last day of the show, a woman approached my booth and said, “Hello, I’m one of Caribou’s customers.” Her name was Pam Barden, wife of logger Lucas Barden. I first met Pam 16 years ago when I arrived at their home office in Cross City in March of 2008 to train Pam on how to use our Logger’s Edge software, which she and Lucas had recently purchased for their new logging operation. They originally had heard of Caribou from Lucas’s uncle, Dave Barden, of Barden Contracting, out of Houston, British Columbia, who had purchased our software the year before. “What on earth brought you and Lucas all the way out to Oregon from Florida?” I asked. And that’s when I learned about their remarkable story.