February 2017
Southern Loggin’ Times magazine’s February 2017 issue features Beulaville, North Carolina’s Woodland Logging, Inc., Oakboro, North Carolina’s Little Logging, and Gasburg, Virginia’s M.M. Wright, Inc. Our Historical Series article remembers the early central Louisiana timber industry. Other articles cover the latest industry news and upcoming events.

In the February 2017 edition of Southern Stumpin’, Southern Loggin’ Times magazine Managing Editor David Abbott discusses love in logging in honor of Valentine’s Day. Abbott writes, “If you haven’t checked the calendar, it’s February. That means a few things—the Superbowl; the return of The Walking Dead from its holiday hiatus; and, of course, Valentine’s Day, for all you love birds out there. In honor of Cupid’s month, I decided to focus this month’s column on the topic of love in logging. Running a logging business can take a toll on a marriage. It can involve long hours, stress and financial worries. And yet, there are those who really seem to have this thing figured out. Most loggers’ wives at least help with the paperwork, but in some cases, the spouse takes a more active role.”

Southern Loggin’ Times magazine Managing Editor David Abbott has the opportunity to visit Woodland Logging, Inc. in Beulaville, North Carolina. It might be difficult to fathom that a full decade has passed since 2007, and yet in January, partners and brothers-in-law Kyle Kornegay, 33, and Nicholas Sholar, 35, marked the 10-year anniversary of the company they co-own, Woodland Logging, Inc. Like many of his industry peers, Kyle is a second generation logger who went to work for his dad, Gerald Kornegay, straight out of high school. Scholar, who is married to Gerald’s daughter Beverly, and Kyle’s brother Timothy also worked for the elder Kornegay, with Kyle and Timothy each supervising one of the four crews their dad owned at that time. One night Gerald came home at the end of a particularly rough day and announced that he wanted to downsize the company, to reduce his own headaches.

Southern Loggin’ Time magazine Associate Editor Jay Donnell travels to Oakboro, North Carolina to visit Little Logging, Inc. When Michael Little started logging right out of high school with his cousin, Scott Broadway, he knew he eventually wanted to run his own business. After seven years of working with his cousin, he did just that. At the ripe age of 25 Michael took out some loans and started his logging business with used equipment. He experienced a lot of breakdowns in the beginning, as most loggers do when they’re using older machines, but he learned a lot in those days. Michael started out by running a chain saw for his cousin, but eventually worked his way up to operating a skidder. “My cousin was good to me and taught me a lot,” Michael says. “He still has his own company.”

(This article originally appeared in the December 15, 1957 issue of Southern Lumberman.) What’s your pick of the most historically important timber area in the South? Mine is central Louisiana, where within a 100-mile diameter circle a dozen timber giants spawned an empire that still lives today. Within this circle, names like Hardtner, Crowell, Buchanan, Joyce and Bentley took on new meaning for the forest industry. The majority of the companies built by these men and their contemporaries at the turn of the century are still manufacturing lumber today and all but a few are nursing their cutover lands back into a healthy timber production for tomorrow’s harvests. It was no wonder that enterprising lumbermen seeking their fortunes came to Alexandria located at the center of the circle.

Southern Loggin’ Times magazine Managing Editor David Abbott visits M.M. Wright, Inc. in Gasburg, Virginia. Partners Stephen Wright, 47, and his brother-in-law Frank Myers, 57, have spent the last two decades sharing responsibilities for leading their family’s company, M.M. Wright Inc. That company serves as an umbrella under which several subsidiaries operate as interconnected parts of the same group: Barko dealer Gasburg Equipment Co., Inc., procurement arm Gasburg Land and Timber, Inc., trucking company Gasburg Timber Corp. and mulch plant Buck Woods, LLC. In all the company employs 65 and owns 6,000 acres of land, and the owners are active politically. Myers serves as a vocal proponent and spokesman for industry interests at the state government level, both through the Virginia Loggers Assn. and as a member of the Governor’s Forestry Board.

Making The Most Of It; Research With A Price; Holy Humor; Nurse Nancy; SLT Truck Driver Salute!; How To Be A Logger

As We See It: Logging Fatalities Trending In The Wrong Direction; Enviva Launches Wood Accountability Program; Another Honor For Allen Bedell; Structural Damage Causes Mill Shutdown; Enviva Selling Wiggins Pellet Mill; Late Truck Driver’s Family Wins Lawsuit; Barko Names Larsen As President; Injury May Exist Says Commission
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