VLA Host Congressman Tom Perriello

On May 8th the Virginia Loggers Association hosted freshman congressman Tom Perriello and his chief of staff, Lise Clavel for an “in woods” logging tour. The visit was scheduled to coincide with the upcoming woody biomass legislation that is entering the committee phase of deliberation on the hill. Binky and Guke Tapscott, owners of Tapscott Brother logging, from Scottsville hosted the congressman on a pine thinning operation they were logging outside Charlottesville, VA.
In addition to the Tapscott brothers and logger Ricky Allen, VLA President, Ronnie Wright and Board member Vance Wright drove up from Southside Virginia which is also part of Perriello’s 5th District. Along with VLA Executive Director, Jim Mooney, the group spent over an hour discussing issues and watching the equipment run. Perriello stated he had seen logging jobs before, “but never as efficient and professional as what we saw today.” He was particularly impressed with the feller buncher and how it could accumulate multiple stems at a time.
The major issue of the day was woody biomass and how the current definition in the energy bill would not allow the tops and slash being drug back to the woods from this site to be considered for any energy credits. The loggers explained that current language did not cover the slash material that they could be utilizing from the woods and how much it would mean to the industry if Congress could help facilitate more production. “In these rural areas, we are the General Motors,” stated President Wright. “We have not gotten any bailouts and we are not asking for any. I have kept all my men working, provided them with health and life insurance and take care of them like family. The cost to me has been to not update my machinery; we are running older machines than we ever have at this point. Biomass is the spark this industry needs.”
Perriello agreed with Wright and stated that he had gone against his own party and not voted for the bill providing TARP money. He also stated his support for more woody biomass as well as nuclear power to help get our energy program back on track as well as the “smart grid” technology. This was a theme Perriello had spoken on the previous week when VLA Executive Director Jim Mooney and Board member Donnie Reaves joined Perriello for a lunch meeting in Lynchburg, VA.
The logger group also explained the American Loggers Council’s position on allowing State weight tolerances to be allowed on the Federal Interstate system. The Virginia loggers would like to be able to utilize the 5% allowance they get on all State roads to be valid on the Interstate. Perrillo, who is on the House Transportation Committee was not aware of the issue and listened closely to the loggers describe the alternative routing they have to take. “It is a safety issue for us,” stated Mooney. “We want these trucks on the safest roads possible and the interstate is where they need to be.”
Perriello inquired about the plan to allow 97,000 lb loads but the loggers explained that they would not be able to haul that weight on State roads in Virginia and it was unlikely they could ever get that through the Virginia General Assembly and it was not worth while to add a third axle. “The best thing for us would be to get our existing State weight on the interstate.” said Binky.
All in all the members felt good about the meeting with Perriello and hoped it would count in DC when the votes were cast. “I really enjoyed meeting the congressman.” said Wright. “We as loggers need to spend more time on things like this and it is very impressive that a US Congressman would spend this time in the woods with us.”

VLA Meeting Lexington Aug 28-30

Virginia Loggers Association 2009 Annual Meeting


The Virginia Loggers Association held their 7th annual meeting in Lexington, Virginia on August 28-30. One of the events included special guest, State Senator Creigh Deeds, who is one of the two candidates running for Governor in the fall election. Just under 100 attendees traveled to Lexington for the event, a record number for the association.
Friday morning the group was hosted by MeadWestvaco at their Covington mill. The bus and vans, provided by MeadWestvaco took the group directly into the plant then they toured the number 2 paper machine from above and along side. The company manufactures bleached board used primarily for packaging material. Few of the group had ever seen a paper machine and were impressed with the size and speed of the machine.
The vans then moved to the wood yard and from the over look, company foresters explained the flow of the yard and gave a summary of the different materials sourced and the areas they were procured from. The group travel down onto the yard and went up into the raw wood in feed control tower and scaled the chipper in feed control tower. All were impressed with the immense power of the chipper and got a look directly down the in feed shoot to the disk head. The truck and rail car chips dumps and chip pile in feed areas wrapped up the wood yard tour. The busses and vans then regrouped at historic Humpback Bridge where MeadWestvaco provided lunch. Humpback Bridge is a National Historic site and one of the few remaining wooden covered bridges in the State. Thou no longer open to traffic it has been converted into a picturesque local park. Woodlands Manager Ollie Kitchen welcomed the group and thanked forester Rodger Timbrook for organizing the event in conjunction with Judd Smith Logging.
For those who did not want to go on the mill tour, an optional tour traveled to Roanoke and visited the children’s hospital that the Log A Load For Kids program supports. Hospital Coordinator Jack Whistler gave the folks a tour of the children’s center an outlined the programs that Log A Load funds support. He thanked the participants for their generous contributions of time and money to the program. Roanoke is one of the five hospitals that the Virginia program supports.
Friday night the members and supporters were joined by State officials, allied industry associations staff, consuming mill representatives and members of the General Assembly for the evening reception. Special guest was State Senator Creigh Deeds who is the Democratic Party nominee for the office of Governor. Senator Deeds mingled and greeted the attendees before giving a brief speech where he outlined his campaign. He also relayed his thoughts on clear cutting and gave an example of how the environmental lobby tried to use an example of clear cutting in his own district that he was able to counter from his own experience.
Saturday morning, President Ronnie Wright opened the business meeting and Executive Director Jim Mooney gave an over view of the association work for the past year including work on biomass and transportation issues at both the State and National levels. The primary focus has been on getting an acceptable definition of biomass to start with. Mooney noted that good progress had been made at both levels on the biomass definition. Transportation issues include the cost of permits in Virginia, getting our weight tolerance on the interstate, and dealing with the problem of the 25% HVUT denial issue. “In our meeting with Congressman Perriello, we believe we have found an ally who is on the Transportation committee and we believe he will introduce legislation to allow our 5% tolerance on the interstate the next time this bill comes up. On the HVUT denial issue, it looks like we have resolved the difference with the IRS,” stated Mooney. Vice President, Judd Smith gave a report on work with the American Loggers Council and upcoming ALC events. Nikkie Robertson gave her report as State Log A Load chair and outlined upcoming events and review totals from last year.
In new business, the members voted on a By Law change to consolidate district five, far SW VA, with district Four and to expand the at large category for the purpose of electing members to the board of directors. The motion passed and the board now has 12 District Directors and 6 At Large members, the total number on the board remains the same as well as the length of term. The changes will take effect with the Fall elections.
After the business meeting, Scott Barrett, with the SHARP logger program presented the preliminary results of a recent survey of Virginia SHARP Loggers. The survey covered demographics, equipment use, biomass, industry awareness, and future perspective to name just a few. Barrett was very pleased with the 59% response rate and surprised at a number of the conclusions. The preliminary data shows that chainsaw felling is still the most common with 225 responses verse 206 for feller bunchers. Just over 50% reported that they would add a chipper if biomass markets were available. When asked how they get current information, word of mouth was the most common response followed closely by trade magazines. Company foresters and trade associations followed at a distance but in equal numbers for providing current information. When asked if they were aware of the VLA 89% responded they were, and 32% said they were members. When asked if they were aware of the Virginia Forestry Association (VFA), 83% said they were and 26% said they were members. This speaks well of the VLA that has only been organized for seven years verses the VFA that has a 50 plus year history.
The second presentation was from Dr. Chad Bolding with the Virginia Tech Industrial Forestry Operations Program. Dr, Bolding and his grad students presented an over view of woody biomass use and logistics. The presentation included the different uses of woody biomass, harvesting systems and future potential. The timely information gave the membership a chance to revisit the issue that has dominated discussion for a number of years. The Virginia Tech Industrial Forestry program has made biomass research a priority and continues to advance the issues and programs.
Saturday night Carmen Smith coordinated a Hawaiian Luau theme dinner complete with palm trees and pineapples. President Wright recognized all the meeting sponsors with the awards portion of the program. Wright recognized Gold Sponsor Forestry Mutual, Silver Sponsors, Bituminous Insurance, Blue Ridge Lumber, The Everett Group and Jim Garner. Bronze Sponsors were Colonial Farm Credit, Carter Machinery Company, Gaines & Critzer, Gasburg Land & Timber, Georgia Pacific, Huber Engineered Woods, Jeff Britt Logging, Landscape Supply, Mead Westvaco, Manry Rawls Insurance, Reaves Timber, Judd Smith Logging, Ronald E Wright Logging, and Rotochopper. Supporters included Sonny Merriman Inc, Glen Morris & Sons Logging, Robbie & Nikki Robertson, and Grief Brothers.
Keith Biggs, President of Forestry Mutual and Brian Wagner, introduced the Forestry Mutual Logger of the year, Victor Simmons. Simmons is from South Hill, Virginia and primarily delivers wood to Arbor Tech and has been in business for eight years. “Victor is a good professional logger and has had no losses since he has been with Forestry Mutual,” said Biggs. “Like most loggers he started with some older equipment but now runs a very up to date equipment spread and takes great pride in his work.” The logger received a plaque and a Stihl chainsaw. The E K Pitman award is named in recognition of the first chairman of the Forestry Mutual Safety group and has been presented for 20 years. “EK was a firm believer in loss control and set the ground work for our company, says Biggs.
State Log A Load Chair Nikkie Robertson was next and she presented the first ever Virginia Log A Load Volunteer of the Year Award. The inaugural winner was EE Talbot of Dillwyn, VA. Talbot was recognized for his long standing support of both the Charlottesville and Roanoke Children’s Hospitals. In addition to supporting golf tournaments himself, EE work tirelessly in recruiting others to follow his lead.
The final award of the evening was the 2009 Presidents Award. Ronnie Wright selected Keith Biggs with Forestry Mutual as the recipient. Wright recognized Biggs for his long standing support of the VLA and made particular note of the endorsement with Forestry Mutual that added 130 new members to the association this year. “Because of your support the VLA will continue to grow and move forward on the issues important to our industry,” said Wright. “Your support has ensured the long term viability of the VLA.”
After the awards ceremony the Kountry Kickers performed a clogging routine and treated the group to a Hawaiian theme dance as well. The evening concluded on a festive note with a local DJ providing dance music and an open bar that was sponsored by Manry Rawls, Forestry Mutual, Everett Group, Judd Smith, and Jeff Britt. Many comments were received on the successful meeting.
President Wright was extremely pleased with both the attendance and program for the meeting. “In this economy it speaks well that we could have record attendance and such an excellent program. I think the loggers are realizing the value of the VLA and what we are doing for them, my goal is to continue to advance this association for the benefit of all the loggers, I also want to thank our sponsors once again, with out them we could not do this important work.” The VLA plans to return to Lexington next year and Grief Riverville has offered to host a tour of their mill.