June 2025
WESTMINSTER, SC — The world might not have enough wood products if all the loggers’ sons had listened when their fathers told them to go to college instead of going to the woods. Thank God for that. “Somebody’s gotta do this work,” observes C.D. Laws, 27, one of the current owners of Laws Logging, Inc. C.D. graduated high school on a Friday night in 2016 and was at work in the woods the Saturday morning after. “Daddy told me to go to college but I said no, I’m gonna stick with this. I was born and raised in this out here.”
Inside This Issue
COVER: Legacy Of Laws In South Carolina
WESTMINSTER, SC — The world might not have enough wood products if all the loggers’ sons had listened when their fathers told them to go to college instead of going to the woods. Thank God for that. “Somebody’s gotta do this work,” observes C.D. Laws, 27, one of the current owners of Laws Logging, Inc. C.D. graduated high school on a Friday night in 2016 and was at work in the woods the Saturday morning after. “Daddy told me to go to college but I said no, I’m gonna stick with this. I was born and raised in this out here.”
Article by David Abbott, Managing Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times
SOUTHERN STUMPIN': Sustainability
Southern Loggin’ Times editor David Abbott ran into well-known logger Richard Schwab at the South Carolina Timber Producers Assn. annual meeting in February. They got to talking about all the mill closures in the last couple of years…Schwab’s region around Perry, Fla., got hit hard two years ago, and the news about the IP Red River mill in Campti, La., was still fresh news then. And even while our editorial team was putting content together for this issue, another mill closure was announced (see news on p. 25). Schwab had something he wanted to say about the situation, and Dave offered him a platform to do so. No doubt Richard is expressing the thoughts and frustrations of many of his peers, and who better to speak for loggers than loggers in their own words? So, without further ado, here is Richard Schwab on the subject of the sustainability of loggers and the logging industry:
Article by David Abbott
BACKWOODS PEW: Dreams Of A Forester
Outdoorsmen love to dream. Whether hunting or fishing, or whatever your outdoor pursuit is, dreaming plays a huge role: The dream of success harvesting the big buck, or catching the big fish. The dreams are what drive the hunter from the end of one season to the beginning of the next, why they endure cold and blow on numb fin- gers, as they expect their dream of a big buck to be fulfilled at any moment. The fishermen cast contin- ually because they expect their dream fish to be at the end of that next cast.
Excerpt from Leaves, Lessons, and Lordship, Bradley Antill author.
INDUSTRY NEWS ROUNDUP
- ALC/USLC Denounce CNBC Tariff Report
- SHAMCO Is FRA National Outstanding Logger
- GP Cedar Springs Set To Close
- No Weight Increase
- MLA Leads U.S. In Log-A-Load Funds
- Virginia Loggers Organize Fundraiser
- Ponsse Marks 30th Anniversary In USA
Rule Of Laws
The Laws family is proud to continue passing on their ongoing generational legacy.
Article by David Abbott, Managing Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times
WESTMINSTER, SC — The world might not have enough wood products if all the loggers’ sons had listened when their fathers told them to go to college instead of going to the woods. Thank God for that. “Somebody’s gotta do this work,” observes C.D. Laws, 27, one of the current owners of Laws Logging, Inc. C.D. graduated high school on a Friday night in 2016 and was at work in the woods the Saturday morning after. “Daddy told me to go to college but I said no, I’m gonna stick with this. I was born and raised in this out here.”
His partner is his father, Mark Laws, 58. He admits he encouraged his son to pursue a different career, as many loggers do. “Everybody wants their young’uns to have something better, and there are easier ways to make a living…less stressful, less dangerous ways,” Mark says. “He had the opportunity to go on to college if he had wanted to.” But C.D. was just like his father, and his grandfather, and his great-grandfather.
C.D. got his name from his paternal great-grandfather, Clifford Desmond Laws, whose initials were C.D. The original C.D., Desmond Laws gave his great-grandson more than his name; he also gave his heirs the sawdust in their veins. Desmond’s son Gene founded Laws Logging and passed the family logging company down to his son Mark, who is now passing it down to and sharing it with his son, the second C.D. Laws.
When he was young, Mark was just like C.D., also following his own dad Gene to the woods; he figures he was either running a machine or a chain saw by age 13. He’ll be turning 59 this year, and who knows? He might be out here another 30 years. “I enjoy what I do,” Mark says. “I reckon it’s in our blood.”
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