Summary of Business – FRA 2024 Lake States Region Fall Meeting

Nearly 75 attendees participated in the FRA Lake States Region Fall Meeting in Wausau, WI, October 16-17. The event addressed key issues impacting the region’s forest industry, such as workforce challenges, transportation, and regional policies and regulations.

Over the course of the meeting, members heard insights from a slate of dynamic speakers. Please CLICK HERE to view the presentations we have permission to share on the FRA website. To access them, you must sign in as an FRA member. Please contact FRA’s Communications and Marketing Manager, Vanessa Connelly, at [email protected] if you need assistance.
Congressman Tom Tiffany (R-WI-7) kicked off the meeting by welcoming participants to Wisconsin and providing an overview of the upcoming elections. He emphasized the significance of the forest products industry to the region and highlighted his efforts to enhance the Forest Service’s accountability in managing timber resources as the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee’s Federal Lands Subcommittee.
Following Congressman Tiffany’s remarks, the morning session comprised several presentations, including discussions on the importance of county forest land management in Wisconsin, a panel featuring leaders from the region’s state associations addressing state policy issues, an analysis of regional and global market conditions in the forest industry, and an overview of the growth in the mass timber market.
The afternoon session featured a field trip to the CASE Construction heavy equipment operator training facility, where attendees observed training provided by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) workforce training program. Following this, attendees visited the UWSP Treehaven natural resources education facility. During the visit, Les Werner (retired, UWSP) gave an overview of the Wisconsin Forestry Center’s workforce recruitment and development program. This included a tour of the newly constructed forestry workforce education building, which is equipped with two timber harvesting simulators designed to train the next generation of loggers. The group also enjoyed a lumberjack demonstration by professional lumberjacks Ben Hansen and Adam LaSalle, who performed several impressive demonstrations for attendees.

The first day concluded with the Lake States Region Awards Dinner, during which the Region Outstanding Logger of the Year and the Technical Release Author for 2024 were both recognized. Shamco, Inc., from Iron River, MI, was honored by Stihl as the region’s Outstanding Logger of the Year. The Shamco team attended in full force, with many key employees present to receive the award and recognition. Professor Charlie Blinn from the University of Minnesota was also recognized for his Technical Release 23-R-32, titled “Wood Fiber Supply Chain and Small Tracts: Who Will Harvest Them.” This Technical Release surveyed logging businesses to identify factors that make small timber tracts marketable.

Day two of the meeting began with a presentation on the transportation sector. Steve Barnett, VP of Underwriting at BITCO Insurance Companies, addressed the rising insurance costs in the truck hauling industry and offered recommendations on safety training and equipment to help businesses reduce these costs. Jamaar Benton, Sales Manager at WATCO Companies LLC, provided an overview of short rail lines in the region and discussed growth opportunities that could benefit the forestry sector. John Bozec, Senior VP and GM of Van and Truckload Dedicated at Schneider, presented on the company’s efforts to haul logs from the woods to the mill. His presentation highlighted several partnerships with the forest industry where Schneider is transporting logs from harvested sites. The morning session concluded with a presentation by Corey Fanslau, VP of Traditional Lending at GreenStone Farm Credit Services, on the role of the Farm Credit System in providing financing for logging businesses.
The afternoon session focused on research. Eric Schilling, Director of Eastern Region Sustainable Forestry at NCASI, provided an overview of how forestry research can inform effective policy that benefits the forest industry. Charlie Blinn, Professor and Extension Specialist at the University of Minnesota, discussed findings from a recent survey on loggers’ and foresters’ perceptions of changing winter weather and its impact on forest operations. John Zobel, Assistant Professor of Biometrics, Modeling, and Measurements at the University of Minnesota, presented research on estimating current and future carbon stocks under various forest management scenarios. The meeting concluded with a presentation by James McFarland, Assistant Director of Renewable Resources for the Eastern Region of the U.S. Forest Service. He provided updates on the LSR National Forests timber programs, and policies and regulations that could impact timber outputs from federal lands.
The FRA 2024 Lake States Region Fall Meeting was approved for 12 Category 1 SAF CFE credits, 4 hours of SFI CE credits, and 6 hours of MN SIC Outside Training Credits. Please reach out if you have questions regarding credit for your meeting attendance.
Thank you to the FRA 2024 Lake States Region Fall Meeting sponsors. This meeting would not have been possible without your generous support!
