American Loggers Council sees generational changes at its 27th annual meeting. *Article reprinted with permission from Hatton-Brown Publishers and Timber Harvesting magazine. This article appeared in the November/December 2021 edition and has been reformatted to fit this space.
BY David Abbott and Dan Shell
COUER D’ ALENE, Id.
W
hen the members of the American Loggers Council met for the organization’s 25th anniversary in September 2019, no one at the time knew that it would be two years before the group would have its annual meeting in person again. Due to the pandemic, the 2020 meeting, which would have taken place in Branson, Mo., the home state of then-President Shannon Jarvis, was held virtually instead in September 2020. At that time, ALC’s board voted for all officers elected in 2020 to serve two-year terms and for the annual meeting to take place in Branson in 2022, at which time new officers will be elected. This decision was reaffirmed in the American Loggers Council members gathered in Idaho to discuss issues pertinent to the industry. 2021 meeting. This year’s meeting took place on October 7-9 in Coeur of the industry, has grown significantly, and the impact of their d’Alene, Id. efforts is now becoming apparent. “We don’t call them anymore Current American Loggers Council President Tim Christofferson they call us,” Dructor said, citing the example of Arkansas welcomed attendees to his home state of Idaho. New ALC Congressman Bruce Westerman texting him directly to discuss Executive Director Scott Dane rose to the challenge of his first forestry issues. “The letter (from President Biden) we just got annual meeting admirably well, while his predecessor in the was proof positive that we have arrived in Washington, DC. We position, Danny Dructor, who handed the reins over to Dane are in a position now we have never been in. We are speaking for earlier this year after 20 years on the job, clearly enjoyed the ourselves, our sector of this industry; we have not had that chance to sit back, relax and enjoy the meeting free from all the opportunity in the past.” He noted that ALC reps are now sitting headache of organizing it. in on advisory panels, working on policy, testifying before The future picture of the American Loggers Council is taking Congress. “We have built relationships with members of shape in real time, building on the foundation of its past. Signs Congress that are priceless, and we have to continue that. It abounded that the dedication and hard work of so many people doesn’t matter which party is in power.” Concluding his remarks, over so many years has paid handsome dividends, with ALC now Dructor left his friends with this advice: “You are loggers being recognized in new ways. As Dructor himself put it, “We working for loggers; don’t ever let anyone take that away from have arrived.” you.” That turned out to be a recurring theme of the weekend, underscored by the fact that no less than the office of the Seminars President of the United States sent ALC a message during the meeting. Responding to the message, Tom Trone, who Industry consultant and former John Deere man Tom Trone moderated Friday’s seminars, said, “The work of 27 years has paid off, because ALC is on the radar of the highest office in the served as moderator and facilitator for a full day of seminars and set the tone for the day by commenting on what he land. Five years ago they wouldn’t called a “generational shift” in the logging industry, in have known (anything) about us.” the ALC and in its leadership. At one point Trone invited Noting that information is key to success, Trone Dructor on stage with him to look introduced Pete Stewart, President, CEO and founder of back on what ALC has Forest- 2Markets, who kicked off a slate of speakers accomplished, how it has grown, with discussion focused on post-Covid markets in 2021 where it came from and where it is and going forward. headed. Dructor noted that Capital expenditures at mills have been almost entirely participation in the annual fly-in in the South, which has added 2.5 billion board feet of event, in which ALC members visit new capacity. “Capital is flowing to the South, China, their state’s Congressional Hunt’s Jeremy Morris discuss and Latin America and nowhere else,” he says. Why is delegates to represent the interests trucking.
ALC
The Logger’s Voice ▪ Winter 2022
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