Industry News Roundup

By Scott Dane

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to change the listing from “Threatened” to “Endangered” for the Northern Long-Eared Bat will do nothing to reduce the mortality of the bat, but will contribute to the declining numbers of loggers in the U.S. and threaten the forest products industry.

Let’s examine the facts: l The Northern LongEared Bats are dying from being infected with a fungus that causes the White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), while hi bernating in caves during the winter. l The mortality rate for bats infected with the fungus is 97%-100%. There is no known cure. l The range of the bats covers 37 states. l WNS is predicted to be in 100% of its U.S. range by 2025.

One of the talking points being pro moted by the U.S. Fish and Wild life Service in support of their efforts to change the listing from “Threatened” to “Endangered” is that the Northern Long-Eared Bat contributes $3 billion annually to the U.S. agricultural economy through pest control and pollination.

The U.S. forest products industry is one of the largest manufacturing industries in America, representing nearly 4% of manufacturing GDP, $300 billion in products annually and $109 billion in payroll—more than 100 times the so-called economic contribution of the bat.

If the Northern Long-Eared Bat is listed as Endangered it will result in enhanced habitat (forests) protec-

tion restrictions, particularly during the summer (June and July) roosting phase. Since it is impossible to ac curately identify roosting trees, this will open up a pandora’s box of over reaching limits and restrictions that will impede forest management activities.

Furthermore, after the bats, in cluding newborn bats, return to the caves to hibernate, they will be in fected with the fungus and die anyway. This prescription will be equi valent to treating a terminal illness (literally for the bats) with an ineffective focus on extenuating factors while ignoring the source of the illness.

The medical field has a fundamental principle of “Do No Harm.” The listing of the Northern LongEared Bat as Endangered, and the subsequent actions and restrictions that will result, will do harm, particularly to the timber and forest management sectors...far more harm than good.

The Endangered Species Act was passed by Congress in 1973. In nearly 50 years more than 2,000 species have been listed, with only 54 ever being removed due to recovery, and many (34) removed due to extinction. This constitutes only a 2% recovery rate.

A species must satisfy at least one of five listing criteria in order to qualify for listing as a “threatened”

or “en dangered” species under the En dangered Species Act: l The present or threatened de struc tion, modification or curtailment of its habitat or range; l Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific or educational purposes; l Disease or predation; l The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; l Other natural or man-made factors affecting its continued existence.

Based on these criteria the American logger satisfies more than one and should therefore be considered for listing as “threatened” or “en dangered” and afforded the same protections.

Scott Dane is Executive Director of the American Loggers Council. ALC is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing the interests of timber harvesting and timber hauling businesses across the United States. For more information visit www.amloggers.com.

Northwest Florida fiber markets were jolted in April after West Rock announced thatit will permanently shut down pulpwood operations at its ma jor Panama City, Fla. mill in early June.

According to a recent Fastmarkets-RISI report, the move eliminates 2.75 million tons of annual wood consumption, with Enviva’s pellet mill at Cottondale, Fla. and Georgia-Pacific’s linerboard mill at Cedar Springs, Ga. expected to be the future destinations for much of the WestRock plant’s incoming wood.

The move comes as a result of several issues, including closing an aging facility that operates an outdated linerboard line and also produces non-core business market pulp. The facility’s procurement area had also taken a big inventory hit in 2018 with damage from Hurricane Michael as pine plantations in the region were hammered. The mill itself was down more than six weeks in 2018 after sustaining hurricane damage. In addition, there’s a wave of new containerboard capacity coming on line later this year.

The facility’s fast-track closure— less than three months from an nounce ment to shutdown—marks the end of a hundred-year era as city officials note the site is to be re-purposed with a new owner.

Most of the current complex came into production back in the late 1950s, but the site in an area known as “Millville” on the outskirts of Panama City has been a major re gional log destination for wood consuming operations for more than a century, starting with a sawmill in 1920.

International Paper Co. built the site’s paper mill in 1930. Southwest Forest Industries bought it in 1979. Stone Container Corp. purchased it in 1987 and merged with the Jefferson Smurfit Corp. in 1998 to make Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009. RockTenn purchased the mill from Smurfit-Stone in May 2011, and it’s been a WestRock mill since the 2015 merger with MeadWestvaco.

Stihl Inc. named Terrence (Terry) Horan as President and CEO, responsible for the management of the Stihl Group’s largest market and subsid iary.

“We are pleased to welcome Mr. Horan, an internationally successful leader with 35 years of experience in the power tools, DIY, and consumer goods industry to the Stihl family,” comments Dr. Nikolas Stihl, chairman of the advisory board and supervisory board at Stihl Group. Michael Traub, chairman of the executive board, adds, “Terry Horan has de monstrated proven leadership of ma jor companies and global brands, creating winning cultures focused on innovation and leveraging a deep understanding of the end-customer. This makes him the right choice to lead the company and its employees.”

Horan joins Stihl Inc. after a successful career as RPM Consumer Group president at RPM International Inc. Horan has also held vari-

ous senior leadership roles including President and CEO of DAP Products Inc., President of The Master Lock Co., President and CEO of the Robert Bosch Tool Corp. North America, and President of Dremel Power Tools.

“I am excited both personally and professionally to join the team at Stihl Inc.,” Horan says. “I look forward to working with the men and women here in Virginia Beach, our branch and distributor teams, and our vast network of more than 10,000 local Stihl dealers across the country.”

Horan, a native of the Chicago area, received a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame, and a bachelor’s degree in marketing at Northern Illinois University. He also volunteers as a start-up advisor at the IDEA Center at the University of Notre Dame. He and his wife Jill have three children.

Pewag group, a leading global com pany in traction chain devices and industrial chain solutions, has com pleted the acquisition of Wall ingford’s Inc. and BABAC Inc., a leading U.S.-based provider of for estry traction devices, forestry supplies and snow chains. Wallingford’s and BABAC are now consolidated as part of pewag’s traction and forestry segment.

The acquisition of Wallingford’s and BABAC is a strong fit with pe wag’s North American forestry business and in particular its for estry traction devices business. It is part of the strategy of pewag to be a leader in this segment globally. Moreover, the high-quality forestry traction devices, developed and manufactured by pe wag in Austria and Czech Republic will be integrated in the portfolio of Wallingford’s. Pewag has hundreds of years of experience in the manufacturing of chains and their components.

Founded as a forging plant in Brueckl, Austria in 1479, pewag group became one of the leading chain manufacturers worldwide.

Today its success is based on wellengineered state-of-the-art quality products. Pewag’s business areas are mainly snow chains, forestry traction, hoist and conveyor chains, do-ityour self products, engineering, lifting and lashing chains and accessories and tire protection chains. It operates modern chain production facilities in Europe and in Pueblo, Colo.

“The combination of pewag’s strong portfolio in forestry with traction devices and the wide distribution network of Wallingford’s in the for estry industry will result in a leadership position in this sector in North America. Moreover, the skidder and ring skidder traction devices developed and manufactured by BABAC will complete pewag’s global for estry product range,” comments Rob Bek kers, CEO, pewag Traction and For estry.

President of Wallingford’s Inc. Chip Wallingford adds, “We are very excited to be now part of the global pewag group, which will add value and quality to our product portfolio, improve our position in the North American forestry market and will definitely give a further push to our professional customer service.”

Founded in 1975, Wallingford’s Inc. is an international wholesaler of tire chain, logging and industrial supplies. Products are predominantly sold to distributors in North America. The sales and marketing office is lo cated in Oakland, Me., with a distribution, assembly and administrative facility in New Hampton, NH, and Canadian distribution centers in Edmonton, Alberta and Montreal, Quebec.

In the position as President of Walling ford’s Inc., Chip Wallingford will be in charge for the future devel-

Enviva, Inc., the world’s leading producer of sustainable wood bioenergy, announced it will invest approximately $250 million in Bond, Miss. to build a new wood pellet production plant. The facility is a key component of the company’s growth strategy to double production capacity from the current 6.2 million metric tons annually to approximately 13 million metric tons annually over the next five years.

“Markets for our renewable products have been growing rapidly as countries look for new ways to re duce their dependence on coal, natural gas, and other fossil fuels for heat and power generation. Demand from manufacturers driving to reach ‘net-zero’ by decarbonizing industrial production of steel, cement, lime, and sustainable aviation fuel is also growing rapidly for us,” comments John Keppler, Enviva’s Chairman and CEO.

The facility site, directly off Highway 49 in Bond, was selected in close collaboration with Governor Tate Reeves, the Mississippi

Development Authority, and Stone County officials.

The plant is fully contracted under long-term take-or-pay supply contracts with customers around the world. In addition to creating around 100 local jobs with wages projected to be approximately 70% higher than the county average, the Bond plant will generate more than $1 million in taxes per year for the county and school district and deliver over $250 million annually in economic impact in the region. Once operational, the plant will support more than 350 jobs, including those in related industries such as logging and transportation.

The new plant in Stone County joins two other Enviva facilities in Mississippi, one in Amory, which is Enviva’s first production plant in the state, and the company’s most recent manufacturing facility in Lucedale. The company also owns and operates a deep-water marine terminal at the Port of Pascagoula from which pellets are shipped to customers in Eu rope and Asia. Combined, Enviva’s total investment in the Magnolia State is more than $600 million and supports over 850 direct and indirect jobs in Mississippi.

Construction is expected to begin in early 2023, subject to receiving the necessary permits, and is expected to take 18 months. The Bond plant is expected to have a production capacity of more than 1 million metric tons of wood pellets per year.

The plant intends to use low-value and low-grade softwood and hardwood fiber sustainably sourced within 75 miles of the facility. Stephen (Steve) Brady Rawls of Lenoir City, Tenn., who worked for Morbark for more than 20 years and was a recognized presence at industry trade events for Morbark, died April 2. He was 68. A member of Trinity United Meth odist Church in Lenoir City, Rawls was a talented sales consultant, mechanic, and operator of a wide range of heavy equipment. Happiest outdoors, Rawls enjoyed working in this yard on a John Deere and in his garden. Known as a kind and honest man, he had a passion for his Harley. Rawls Rawls is survived by his wife of 28 years, Melissa May Rawls, son Thomas Herzog (Heather) and granddaughter Emersyn as well as countless other family members.

A celebration of life was held April 9 in Lenoir City. Donations in his memory can be made to the CLL Society, cllsociety.org.

Weyerhaeuser Co. is purchasing 80,800 acres of timberland in North and South Carolina from a fund managed by Campbell Global for $265 million. The acquisition is composed of highly productive timberlands situated in strong coastal markets and strategically located to deliver immediate synergies with existing Weyerhaeuser timber and mill operations. Additionally, the acquisition is ex pected to deliver portfolio-leading cash flow and harvest tons per acre within the company’s Southern Timberlands business.

Key components include: —Fee ownership with 89% planted pine acreage and strong site productivity delivering attractive longterm timber returns —Well-stocked timber inventory with a mature age class producing attractive sawlog mix and average harvest of 6.5 tons per acre (or 520,000 tons) annually over the first 10 years —Expected average Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $160 per acre (or $13 million) annually from timber operations over the first 10 years

With this acquisition, Weyerhaeuser will own or manage more than 900,000 acres of timberland in the Carolinas, and the company also operates four mills, a distribution center and tree nursery and hosts multiple mitigation banks and real estate development projects, while employing more than 700 between the two states.

Shannon Jarman, wife Rachel and daughter Marley from Dickson County were honored by Governor Bill Lee and members of the Tennessee General Assembly on March 16. Pictured with the Jarman family are From left: Senator Kerry Roberts, Shannon Jarman, his wife State Senator Kerry Roberts Rachel and daughter Marleigh Jarman, and Rep. Michael Curcio and Representative Michael Curcio.

Shannon was honored for his commitment to sound and sustainable forestry practices along with his ability to work well and communicate with landowners. Shannon was nominated for the Tennessee Master Logger of the Year award by Independent Stave Corporation. The Tennessee Forestry Assn. (TFA) is very proud to recognize Shannon Jarman and his family as Tennessee Master Logger of the Year for 2020-2021.

The Tennessee Forestry Assn. (TFA) represents wood industry, loggers and forest landowners in government affairs, education and outreach programs. TFA sponsors the Tennessee Master Logger program along with the Tennessee Dept. of Agriculture and University of Tennessee Extension Service. For more information on TFA visit the website at www.tnforestry.com.

Auburn University’s College of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences culminated its 75th anniversary year with a gala at the Gogue Performing Arts Center on April 13 featuring a key note address and performance by Rolling Stones keyboardist and honorary U.S. Forest Service ranger Chuck Leavell and a proclamation from Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey.

Mary Katherine Pittman from the Office of the Governor presented Ivey’s proclamation to Janaki Alavalapati, dean of the College of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, in honor of the college’s anniversary and its recent change in designation from a school to a college.

Alavalapati recognized Auburn’s leadership and faculty, staff, alumni and friends who have propelled the college forward for the past 75 years to become a premier institution.

He also expressed gratitude to the anniversary celebration organizing committee, which included faculty, staff and distinguished alumni like Glenn Glover, professor emeritus and 1973 forestry graduate; William Green, a 2014 wildlife graduate and current forestry and wildlife divisions director of ALFA Farmer’s Federation and Executive Director of the Alabama TREASURE Forest Association; and Frank Walburn, a 1979 forestry graduate and Regions Bank Senior Vice President of natural resources and real estate management.

Drax Group has opened a new pellet plant in Demopolis, Ala. At full capacity the plant, which is Drax’s second production facility in Alabama, will produce 360,000 tonnes of sustainable biomass pellets a year.

“Drax’s wood pellet plant that’s be ing commissioned in Demopolis represents a major investment that will drive long-term economic growth and spark significant job creation in Marengo County. The opening of this facility is an exciting de velopment for this rural region, and I look forward to seeing Drax develop new growth plans in Sweet Home Ala bama,” commented Governor Kay Ivey at the official opening.

Will Gardiner, Drax CEO; Mayor Woody Collins; Ashley Coplin, Executive Director of the Demopolis City Schools Foundation; and Matt White, Drax Executive Vice President, Pellet Operations also participated in the ceremony held April 5.

John Deere announced it will enhance the capabilities of existing diagnostic tools and expand their availability. In 2023, the company will roll out an enhanced customer solution that includes a mobile device interface, and the ability to download secure software updates directly to embedded controllers on select John Deere equipment with 4G connections.

In addition, John Deere announced that coming this May it will expand its offerings by giving customers and independent repair shops in the U.S. the ability to purchase Customer Ser vice ADVISOR directly through JohnDeereStore.com.

Customer Service ADVISOR has been available through John Deere dealerships, enabling customers to diagnose, troubleshoot and repair

their own equipment. With the ability to purchase directly from John Deere, equipment owners and independent repair shops will have ex panded access to Customer Service ADVISOR, in addition to existing access to replacement parts to complete needed repairs.

John Deere owners will continue to have the option to visit a dealership, engage an independent repair shop, or self-repair their machines according to their preferences. Visit www.JohnDeere.com/repair.

Remsoft’s collaboration with For estPHD, an Australian-based developer of Sticks, opens new opportunities for forestry companies to drive more accurate harvest, delivery and wood flow schedules and budgets. This partnership will enable the use of forest machine data in Remsoft Forest Intelligence solutions. The part nership will improve visibility and data-based intelligence for for estry companies using Remsoft Operations SaaS software to plan and sche dule their harvest and wood flow activities.

Widely used throughout Australia, New Zealand and increasingly other parts of the world, ForestPHD’s Sticks cloud solution enables data collected by forestry equipment to be analyzed for better un derstanding of harvesting operations, wood flow logistics and value recovery. Sticks aggregates data from feller-bunchers, harvesters, processors and forwarders that support the internationally recognized StanForD data format that is used by manufacturers.

Linking the machine data from Sticks with Remsoft Operations opens new opportunities to drive more accurate harvest, delivery and wood flow schedules and budgets with improved harvest unit inventory updates and forecasts, harvest productivity rates and harvesting costs.

“As forestry companies make the move from spreadsheets to intelligence-based planning in Remsoft Operations, data integration is a key focus for delivering more value,” says Doug Jones, Senior VP, Remsoft. “Our collaboration with ForestPHD opens the door for clients to incorporate and extract more value from their forest ma chine data to inform supply chain decisions.”

Barko Hydraulics announced the addition of National Equipment Dealers (NED) as the company’s newest authorized dealer. With more than 30 years of industry experience in heavy equipment sales, rentals, and serving customers in an array of industries, NED will sell and support the full line of Barko equipment in South Carolina.

With 15 locations in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, NED is one of the preeminent heavy equipment dealers in the U.S. NED serves customers in earthmoving, forestry, mining, oil and gas, scrap and material handling, road construction, landscaping, government and municipalities.

Paul Harmer, NED Forestry Div. Manager, comments, “We are thrilled to expand our relationship and our territory with the innovative Barko product offering. We look forward to growing our business throughout the NED territory with this great product.”