Oregon Logging Conference Returns With In-Person Event

Tue July 27, 2021
Oregon Logging Conference

The Oregon Logging Conference will return for an in-person gathering after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled last year's live event.

The 2022 conference will take place on Feb. 24 to 26, 2022, at the Lane County Convention Center and Fairgrounds, in Eugene, Ore.

This year's theme is, "Family, Friends and Forestry 2.0," and it will recognize and honor loggers, their families and the timber industry. If the theme sounds familiar, it should, as it is a sequel, if you will, of the 2021 OLC theme Family, Friends and Forestry.

OLC President Scott Melcher suggested the theme at the recent spring OLC board meeting, and it was met with unanimous acceptance and support for the other board members present.

"All three are tied together," Melcher said. "My hope is to showcase the generations of families and friends that have been involved in logging and timber. We plan to focus on who we are, what we do and what we are planning to do."

The theme calls attention to the many companies that have multiple generations of the same family involved and the proud heritage that is carried on.

The importance of "Friends" cannot be overemphasized. At the OLC and other related association gatherings annually, old friends reconnect to catch up on what has transpired over the past 12 months. New friends are made easily because of a shared bond, a shared lifestyle, a shared dedication to family, friends and forestry.

"I consider forestry to be generational," Melcher said. "Learning from yesterday, providing for today and investing in the future. It's a long-term commitment One that I and so many others make on a daily basis. I wouldn't have it any other way,. ‘Family, friends and forestry', are a very important part of our lives."

Working On Details

OLC officers, directors, staff and volunteers are working on program details to identify potential speakers and facilitate informative and thought-provoking seminars and panel discussion topics.

New Board Members

The Oregon Logging Conference (OLC) has added two new members to its board of directors. OLC welcomes Ed Fallon and Jacob Steensen, both life-long supporters of the logging industry.

Fallon has more than 40 years of experience in the logging industry. He began his career setting chokers behind a dozer and quickly worked his way up through the ranks learning all parts of the business from setting chokers on the ground side to cable logging and building roads. By the mid-1980s, he had worked his way up to woods boss.

From 1990 to 2008, Fallon was out on his own doing mechanical ground logging. In 2008, he sold the business to Jeld-Wenn in Klamath Falls, and went to work for them as logging and chopping manager. In 2014, when the business was sold to Green Diamond Resource Company, Fallon stayed on managing all woods operations. Fallon left Green Diamond Resource Company in 2019 and since then has been logging and roads operations manager for the Murphy Company in White City.

Jacob Steensen, a third-generation timber industry worker, was born into a logging family. His great uncle cut the right of way for the Valsetz mainline. His grandfather and father were both loggers, and Steensen started setting chokers behind a Cat when he was 13.

He started for Georgia Pacific from 2008 to 2016, and now works as resource manager for Southport Lumber out of North Bend, Ore.