Off the Leash - By Hank

The other day I was signing a copy of the last issue of this fine publication for an endearing fan.  I flipped through the pages putting my pawprint in the appropriate place when I stumbled across Safety Man Justin’s last Safety Saves article.  Justin did a good job with the article and I took it to heart.  If you missed it, the jest of it is that we all need to take better care of ourselves and stop eating garbage.  Justin mentioned a diet rich in protein is the way to go and one good source of protein was a hardboiled egg.  Since I’m an overachiever I have been eating 38 hardboiled eggs every day.  I say Justin was on to something as I haven’t felt better and my coat is glorious.  Unfortunately, that all came to an end because of a slight case of stomach indigestion and some weak stomachs in the office.  I was told by Mom, I mean Coleen, “NO MORE EGGS”.

In other news, I’m sure most of you have been paying attention to the news and have seen that there are some exciting things happening at the federal level in our industry.  First off, Mr. Tom Schultz will be our 21st Chief of the Forest Service.  Tom studied forestry at the University of Montana and recently worked at Idaho Forest Group as Vice President of Resources and Government Affairs.  President Trump also signed two Executive Orders titled “Immediate Expansion of U.S. Timber Production” and “Addressing the Threat to National Security From Imports of Timber, Lumber”.  My crystal ball is pretty fuzzy but I think this all sounds pretty promising.  Time will tell!

Safety man Tim just returned from a stint in Washington D.C. as part of Class VI of Real Montana.  During that time, he secured a meeting with some fancy big whigs and he assures me that our folks in Washington D.C. are very aware of our issues.  The good Senator Daines has good support for his “Fix Our Forests” act which should streamline sound forest management on the federal landscape and there is lots of talk about NEPA reform and how exactly the work is going to get to set these sales up with the reduction in workforce. 

Switching gears, all fine two leggers should have received first aid/RT-130 registration packets in the mail.  The Safety Boys are on the road as you read this providing training to loggers across the state.  If you haven’t signed up, you are just about out of time.  Also, make sure you are caught up on all your other training like BMP/SMZ, ALP Credits, etc.  Safety Man Justin has put together a great ALP program this year with some classes to help you be successful.  As Spring comes to a close, make sure to put May 16th and 17th on your calendar for the MLA’s Annual Meeting in Kalispell.  President Karl Kanduch will be handing over the gavel to Vice President, Kevin Kanduch, (I think they might be related?), and there will be lots of fun to be had.

Lastly, all of us at the MLA want to say congratulations to Mr. Bill Imbergamo who has stepped down after 14 years as Executive Director of the Federal Forest Resource Coalition.  Over his 14 years, Bill has been crucial in numerous reforms used by our partners at the Forest Service to get good work done.  Thank you for your dedication and passion for this profession called logging. 

Well, that’s all your ol’ buddy Hank has for you this newsletter.  Make sure to get to a first aid class and get ready for next season.  I know it was a tough one last year but it is in our rear-view mirror now.  There was more than one Monday when the safety boys would come in and talk about how hard things were last year.  Between weather, timing restrictions, poor markets and a shrinking workforce, last year stunk like the neighbor’s cat.  Time to focus on what may be much better times ahead.  May this next season be a safe and productive one!

Until next time…..Hank