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Summersville loggers win professional acclaim

He and his brothers decided to do things right.

SUMMERSVILLE, Mo.-The last thing a logger expects when he fells a tree is a standing ovation, but that is what Ron Tuttle and his family logging crew got when they attended that annual meeting of the Missouri Forest Products Association (MFPA) in Osage Beach in July.

Harvesting timber runs in the family. Tuttle and brothers Don and Gary Tuttle have more than 20 years of logging experience. They work in partnership, along with Don’s son Jason and Ron’s son Keith.

When the Missouri Department of Conservation began offering Professional Timber Harvester Training, the Tuttles took every course they could, learning the fine points of safety, directional felling, forest management and reducing damage to remaining trees.

"We learned there was a need for it, so we started putting it in our work practices," said Ron Tuttle. "We just decided that’s the way we would do it."

The Tuttles’ conscientiousness paid off with contracts to harvest trees on conservation areas. Over the years, they have harvested several million board-feet of timber on Angeline and Sunklands conservation areas. They also have logged extensively on private land, including Pioneer Forest, Missouri’s largest private forest and a showcase of uneven-age forest management.

Over the years, their reputation for doing things right has earned landowners’ trust. "Especially around here at home, we can do business with a handshake," said Ron. "It makes you feel kinda happy with yourself."

Doing things right also brought the Tuttles to the attention of Conservation Department Forestry Regional Supervisor Tom Draper, who nominated Ron for the 2007 Missouri State Logger of the Year Award. He noted the loggers’ insistence on practices that protect the land and forests and a commitment to excellence that causes them to go "above and beyond" what is expected of them.

"They maximize their production by excellent forest product utilization," said Draper. "When you look at their operations after they finish, it is obvious that very little material is wasted."

When he accepted the Professional Logger of the Year Award, Ron Tuttle brought his partners to the event and gave them equal credit for the achievement. "We do this as partners," he said.

The Conservation Department and the Missouri Forest Products Association select state logger of the year award recipients from among regional loggers of the year nominated by Conservation Department foresters. Foresters are asked to nominate only outstanding loggers, so not every region has a nominee every year. This year’s other regional recipients were:
--Southwest - Tom Heidlage, Pierce City
--Southeast - Dustin Lindgren, Patton
--Northeast - Jack and Brad Buster, Kirksville
--Northwest - Roger Whetstine, Troy, Kan.

Logger of the Year recipients receive a Stihl chainsaw with a retail value of $750 from program sponsor Crader Distributing, Marble Hill. Regional nominees receive Stihl protective equipment kits valued at $480.

For more informatio n about the Professional Logger of the Year program, contact John Tuttle, Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180, phone (573) 522-4115, ext. 3304, e-mail john.tuttle@mdc.mo.gov.

-Jim Low-

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