Forty-eight thousand acres of forestland in east-central Mississippi are owned and managed by C.A. Barge Timberlands, LP, based here. Stretching across Noxubee and Winston counties, the timber inventory is predominantly pine, accompanied by an assortment of hardwood species found along bottomland areas.

In the last couple of years, third generation logger Jerry Gray has seen some major changes. In September two years ago, Jackie, his older brother and lifetime mentor, lost a three-year battle with cancer. “Me and my brother had worked together all of our lives, and when I lost him, it was like half of me,” remarks the 42-year-old owner of Gray Logging LLC.

Versatile, respected, honest, dedicated, hard working. These are just a few of the adjectives foresters and fellow loggers use to describe the team of Dick and Early Holland, anchored in the hills a short distance east of Charlottesville. The brothers have operated Holland Brothers Logging as an equal partnership for more than 30 years. The team has survived and prospered by adapting to handle both pine and hardwood and clear-cuts and thinnings—all while cutting on contract or buying timber themselves.

Along a seemingly quiet road, a large sign announces the future location of wooded residential lots for sale. Beyond the sign, the land is being logged to prepare for these lots, which range in size from one-third to one-fourth of an acre. For most folks living in rural areas, that’s barely enough land for a vegetable garden. On the other hand, for people eager to move to the elite suburbs north of Atlanta, these lots are in high demand.

Better living through technology has changed life as we know it. Cell phones, e-mail, computers and other electronic conveniences are now affordable, commonplace and often necessary in today’s work world. Because of these helper gizmos, we’ve all become a society of multi-taskers. We check bank accounts and set up business meetings while driving down the road or phone home from aisle eight in the grocery store to ask what brand of soft drinks the kids want or order delivery pizza on the way home from work, secretly hoping traffic will allow us to beat the pizza guy home.

This month we’re taking a short leap back in time to the October 1995 issue of SLT. Eight years ago, our cover loggers were father and son team Keith and Jerry Bunch, working as Bunch Logging Inc. of Clara, Miss. The Bunches worked in both hardwood and pine, using Timberjack skidders, Hydro-Ax feller-bunchers and Prentice loaders. The company contracted for Georgia-Pacific. Crew loyalty was the watchword for this operation.

I think it wise to pause here, to philosophize over the things that create success in this life. For more than twenty-five years I had a very happy experience. I was healthy, I had a reasonably intelligent mind, and I was engaged in doing those things that I wanted to do. As a young man I set my goal at the accumulation of material things. By concentrating every effort, working unremittingly and being endowed with a superior amount of luck, the material things of life were coming my way.

A 2004 historical logging calendar is now available from publisher Jeff Peters, whose family has worked in the timber industry for more 100 years in northern Wisconsin. This is the fourth such calendar published by Peters, and the 2004 version contains all new logging photographs and original artwork.

A logger was “hot” bucking logs on a landing as treelength pulp was being loaded onto a truck for hauling. It was about noon on a clear November day. The logger had several years of experience and worked for a contractor who employed seven hand crews. The logger had no formal safety training but was wearing all the appropriate personal protective equipment except safety boots. The man operating the loader was actually the truck driver and was not an employee of the contractor.

The latest addition to the Tigercat felling head lineup is the 5702. Although the 5702 is designed for big wood applications, the asymmetric arm geometry and large accumulating area promote excellent performance in all stem sizes. Based on the 5700 felling saw, the new 5702 has large bore, high pressure grab arm and accumulating arm cylinders for better control of large stems.