CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The West Virginia Division of Forestry has implemented a new program recognizing the most conscientious professional loggers in the state. The new "Logger of Excellence" program acknowledges all professional loggers who have completed a year's work in full compliance with the West Virginia Logging Sediment Control Act (LSCA), one of the nation's toughest forestry laws. Each eligible logger will receive a certificate, window decal and bumper sticker identifying him or her as a "Logger of Excellence." The program is based on a calendar year's work and the 2007 award recipients will be recognized at the A. B. Brooks Forestry Symposium in February 2008.
"Professional loggers are the backbone of West Virginia's forest industry," said Director/State Forester Randy Dye. "The Logger of Excellence program is a way to recognize those loggers with unblemished records who have protected the state's water resources by working in full compliance with the LSCA."
The program was the brainchild of Greg Cook, who now serves as deputy state forester for the Division of Forestry. In his former position as assistant state forester overseeing the water quality and LSCA programs, Cook believed loggers deserved more recognition than they received outside the forestry community.
"I wanted to create a program to recognize the exemplary efforts of West Virginia's professional loggers," Cook said. "The Logger of Excellence program will spotlight these outstanding professional loggers within the forestry community and help draw the public's attention to the honorable profession of logging," Cook said.
Jeremy McGill, who now serves as the Division of Forestry's assistant state forester of water quality, says more than 170 professional loggers qualified as "Loggers of Excellence" for calendar year 2007.
"I think the Logger of Excellence program will be a great incentive for professional loggers to work even more alertly than they do now," McGill said. "I can easily see the number of loggers in this program doubling or even tripling in just the first couple of years."
For more information about the Division of Forestry, visit www.wvforestry.com.