The Associated Oregon Loggers has named Sweet Home’s Melcher Logging Co. Inc. as its Logger of the Year.
AOL President Rick Gibbons, a logger from Canyonville, presented the award at AOL’s 40th Annual Convention Jan. 16 in Eugene.
Associated Oregon Loggers, Inc. represents nearly 1,000 contract logging companies and businesses associated with the logging industry in the state.
“As we celebrate our 40th anniversary representing Oregon loggers, it is only fitting that the Logger of the Year award winner is one of our original members, having joined in October 1969,” Gibbons said, adding that the award was in recognition of Melcher’s “extraordinary contributions to our association, our industry and their community, Sweet Home.”
Melcher is operated by partners Mike, Robbie and Scott Melcher and Jim Cota, all of Sweet Home.
“Two words that come to mind in describing our Logger of the Year are ‘resilient’ and ‘innovative,’ Gibbons said.
“When the federal government’s timber sale program came crashing down in the late ’80s and early ’90s, it would have been easy for our award winner to call it quits, but that was not their nature. Instead, they looked for new opportunities and new ways of doing business in response to a changing political and environmental landscape.
“I believe they were the first company in Oregon to invest in Cut To Length (CTL) harvesting systems and they reinvented the company to take advantage of opportunities in the intensive management of second growth forest plantations.”
Mike Melcher said he got “choked up” when he realized his company was getting the award.
“It’s a great honor,” he said. “You’re in quite an elite group as far as professional people are concerned. That makes it a real honor.
“This was unique this year because it was awarded to a company rather than an individual.”
The Melchers and Cota have been recognized by both the news media and professional organizations for their leadership in new forestry techniques. The company has received numerous merit awards from the Oregon Department of Forestry.
Scott Melcher has been featured in an Oregon Forest Resource Institute publication on Careers in Oregon’s Forest Sector.
This year the American Tree Farm System recognized them as the Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year for the exemplary management of the company tree farm. And the company was recently featured in Loggers World magazine. They have been longtime supporters of Log A Load For Kids and active in AOL functions.
During the presentation Gibbons note that the company is a four-generation enterprise, started by Mike Melcher’s father Nick, who migrated from Minnesota to Oregon following the Great Depression and started working in logging camps in western Oregon. He met his wife, an Oregon native who was a cook in the logging camps, and eventually started his own logging company in 1956 specializing in salvage logging.
Nick Melcher’s two sons Mike and Jim became loggers as well, and Mike purchased the company in 1970 and, some 20 years later, his two sons Scott and Robbie, became fully involved in company operations and Cota, a long-time employee, was made a partner in the business.
The Melchers have been leaders in developing fuel reduction and forest health restoration work on federal forests.
According to an AOL statement, “after years of neglect and non-management, the federal lands of central Oregon had become overstocked and in need of some form of active management to avoid catastrophic fire. The treatments that were needed fit the CTL harvesting system perfectly.
The company engaged the Forest Service and affected interest groups proactively in collaborative efforts to design forest management treatments that reduced fuels, created jobs and left the remaining forest in a healthier condition as a result. This required a lot of patience and a dedication to building trusting relationships with the Forest Service and the interest groups constantly looking over their shoulders.”
Gibbons also cited the company’s involvement in numerous community projects.
“One that stands out occurred this past year when it coordinated the construction of a new home for a local resident (Dirrell Harper) whose home was severely damaged by a fallen tree during a severe windstorm,” it said in its statement. “The homeowner is handicapped and confined to a wheelchair. Due to their efforts, and that of many community volunteers, he has a new home today. This was an extraordinary commitment to the community and an individual who needed a helping hand.”
Mike Melcher said he appreciated the recognition of the company’s efforts in the local community.
“The way it was presented really touched me,” he said.
Scott Melcher said it was “encouraging” to be recognized for quality service.
“We go out every day and try to do a good job, a fair job, a quality job,” he said. “It’s been our way of working for a long time, since Melcher Logging started. It’s nice to get a pat on the back once in a while for what you do every day.”