December 2024
Missouri logger Isaac Dotson, like much of the rest of his family, diversifies his business, Crooked River Enterprises, by working on natural disaster cleanup/salvage jobs wherever and whenever needed all around the country. This fall and winter he’s been working in Georgia in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, and brought a new Ponsse Scorpion with him to handle the job.
Inside This Issue
COVER: Storm Chaser
LATHROP, Missouri—According to a timber damage assessment report released on November 5 by the Georgia Forestry Commission and the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry, Hurricane Helene impacted more than 8.9 million acres of timberland in the state, which is right at 37% of Georgia’s total timberland. Of that, 1.5 million acres suffered severe damage. The economic impact is estimated at $1.28 billion.
Article by David Abbott, Managing Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times
SOUTHERN STUMPIN': End Quote
I have only a few quotes for you this year, because space is limited but we have so much good stuff to bring you. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and see you in the woods in 2025!
“These are high quality machines harvesting high quality timber, so you have to reach the high quality markets, wherever they are. It’s still better than fooling around with pulpwood, or as I like to call them, poverty sticks. Alabama is the pulp- wood capital of the United States but paper mills have the market cornered, and a lot of loggers are starving to death.” —Kirk Sanders talking about CTL machines working hardwood stands in Alabama, February issue, p. 20
Article by David Abbott
SWEET CAROLINA
Those who attended the Mid-Atlantic Logging and Biomass Expo in Laurinburg, NC on November 1-2 could scarcely have asked for more agreeable weather, especially on the second day. Temperatures were mild, the sun was mostly shining and the rain stayed at bay. Just barely a month after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, many loggers and their families from throughout the region gathered to check out exhibits and grow connections in their shared community. Despite all the bad news of late, recent developments have many in the industry feeling optimistic for the future, and it’s always healthy for people with common interests to come together face to face. Kudos to the Carolina Loggers Assn., North Carolina Forestry Assn. and Shoeheel Land Management for providing the opportunity.
MOVIN' UP
The Alabama Loggers Council continues to put together an impressive program for its annual meeting, one that seems to get better each year. When the group convened for this year’s event on October 19, loggers from throughout the state came together in a different location further north: Clanton Conference and Performing Arts Center, located adjacent to Jefferson State Community College’s Clanton campus. The venue afforded more space for sponsors to exhibit machines and trucks outside in the parking lot.
PULPWOOD DESERTS
Especially in areas where roundwood consuming pulp and paper facilities have either closed machines or closed outright, the timber industry’s ongoing pulp and paper realignment is substantial and has initiated a domino effect with dire implications for an already strained raw material supply chain as markets for low-grade roundwood and chips disappear across the country.
Article by Patrick Dunning, Contributing Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times
INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP
- South Beats Canada In Lumber Production
- ResourceWise Offers Forest Market Analysis
- Sierra Pacific Opens New Alabama Faciity
- Burton Mill Acutires Quitman Saw Firm
- Weyerhaeuser Plans New Plant In Arkansas
- IP Closes Georgetown Mill In South Carolina
MACHINES-SUPPLIES-TECHNOLOGY
- JOHN DEERE AUTO PICKUP
- NEW TIGERCAT EQUIPMENT
Storm Chaser
Hurricane Helene brought Isaac Dotson and family from Missouri to Georgia for storm cleanup.
Article by David Abbott, Managing Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times
LATHROP, Missouri —According to a timber damage assessment report released on November 5 by the Georgia Forestry Commission and the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry, Hurricane Helene impacted more than 8.9 million acres of timberland in the state, which is right at 37% of Georgia’s total timberland. Of that, 1.5 million acres suffered severe damage. The economic impact is estimated at $1.28 billion.
It’s a mess someone has to clean up. Even such a massive catastrophe presents opportunity. Every year, whenever and wherever Mother Nature strikes, response teams come from all over the country to help with cleanup and salvage efforts, and it can be good business for those with the experience and preparation to specialize in the work.
One such case: Isaac Dotson’s Missouri company, Crooked River Enterprises, spends several months a year working on storm cleanup jobs around the country in addition to their logging work at home. Isaac, 42, is just one of many loggers in the Dotson family who headed southeast from Missouri to Georgia and Florida in the wake of Helene in early October. Isaac’s dad, Mike Dotson, uncle Tim and cousin Matt are all working in the region this fall, as is his uncle Mark Dotson, whose Tri Rivers Enterprises was featured tackling a very large oak in the January 2023 issue of Southern Loggin’ Times.
“Storming,” as they call it, has been a key part of the Dotson family’s business plan since the mid-’90s, when an ice storm hit near Kansas City. “All of the storm debris trucks had loaders behind the cabs and they only ran single boxes,” Isaac recalls. “Well, all of our log trucks had log bunks on the trucks and pulled pup trailers. We decided we’d be able to double what they were doing because they just ran single boxes. So we threw some container boxes on our trucks and away we went.”
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