Two loggers and a forest road builder have been chosen as Operator of the Year for their respective regions and a Philomath company earned a merit award, the Oregon Department of Forestry announced Wednesday.
Three regional advisory committees to the board selected the Operator of the Year trio earlier this fall. The recipients were Boulder Ridge out of Bend (eastern), Quality Excavation out of Seaside (northwest) and Weber Logging and Construction out of Roseburg (southwest).
Philomath-based Emerald Valley Thinning earned a Northwest Region Award of Merit for harvesting extremely steep slopes in the Coast Range using tethered logging and hand cutting to protect buffer trees along the Siuslaw River.
“The difficult part about this unit was the stream buffer in the bottom and the haul road and getting enough lift to suspend up and over all of that and then keep traffic flowing and the public out and keep the operation safe,” Emerald Valley Thinning owner Travis Smouse said in a video that was produced about the recipients.
According to the ODF, Emerald Valley Thinning also succeeded in following new Forest Practice Act rules protecting trees in the harvest unit located in steep slope areas at risk of sliding.
“The majority of this unit, it was all hand-felled — it’s just too steep,” Smouse said. “There was a portion about 6 acres that we were able to tether cut and work around the ELCs (protected trees) with that machine.”
Justin Helgren, contractor supervisor for Roseburg Resources, said Smouse runs a trusted company.
“If I put Travis on a unit, I know that the sorts are going to go well, the logging is going to go well,” Helgren said.
Smouse said he tries to get the highest-quality workers available.
“They’re out here to do the right thing, make good decisions, take care of the land,” he said.
Other merit award winners are forestry consultant Jeff Maben, Staton Forestry, RDL Northwest and Dave Wilkerson Logging.
The recipients will be recognized in Salem at the January meeting of the board.