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Steve Richardson Was A Leader In Arkansas Timber Community

Stephen Lee “Steve” Richardson of Warren, Ark., died December 30, 2025 at St. Vincent Hospital in Hot Springs, Ark. He was 75. 

Born on July 8, 1950 in Little Rock, Richardson was the owner/operator of Richardson Wood Co./L.A. (Lower Arkansas) Wood Co., among other business ventures. A graduate of the University of Arkansas at Monticello and an outspoken advocate for the timber industry, Richardson joined the Arkansas Forestry Assn. in the early 1970s, where he served on and chaired the Logging Committee. As a founding member of the Arkansas Timber Producers Assn.—the last remaining of the group’s nine original founders from 1991, in fact—he provided leadership for ATPA’s In-Woods and Southwest Forest Products Expos and Log a Load events over many years. 

A staunch advocate for sustainable forestry practices, Richardson was the Arkansas Forestry Assn.’s 2001 Logger of the Year. In a 2002 cover story interview with Ark Pro Logger magazine, he encouraged his peers to pursue logging in ways that are not only profitable but also ecologically responsible. 

Richardson was profiled in feature articles in Sothern Loggin’ Times in February 1988 and November 1997, and in fellow Hatton-Brown publication Timber Harvesting in December 2003. In that last article, Richardson told writer Jennifer McCary that all the links in the forest products supply chain must cooperate as partners, not adversaries. “We’re all in this together, whether we’re making a piece of paper, a saw log or a board,” he said. “The sooner we realize that and get our heads together, the better.” 

An excerpt from McCary’s profile: 

“We’re all in this together,” is something of a mantra to Richardson, who finds it frustrating that the independent spirit, which attracts most loggers to the profession, is also their Achilles’ heel. “The thing is we have a lot of political clout, state-wide, if we could just get together.”

McCary went on to describe him in that 2003 article as a man who was always thinking, constantly seeking ways to improve his operation. As such, he was often ahead of the curve, progressively and proactively embracing change and trying new things: he was among the first in the region, for instance, to adopt FEC bar/chain slasher saws in the early ’80s, and stroke delimbers in the mid-’90s. According to retired SLT/TH co-publisher DK Knight, “Steve was also a former silent partner in (Tigercat dealer) Mid-South Equipment, which operated in Warren while he was involved, and otherwise was a successful businessman, not only in logging but also in the truck stop that he and son Stevie founded a couple of years ago in Monticello.” Beyond business, Richardson was also a leader in his church (Immanual Baptist in Warren) and his community, serving on the Bradley County Industrial Development Corp. through the Chamber of Commerce. He worked to develop a forestry equipment operator’s training program through the Southeast Arkansas Community Based Education Center in Warren. He also served as his region’s co-chairman to raise funds for Log a Load for Kids; during his tenure, he saw donations increase from $2,000 a year to a high of $60,000. His other great passion: Richardson was an avid duck and turkey hunter well known for his skills throughout south Arkansas. He loved to guide novice hunters to their first successful hunt. In fact, he told Ark Pro Logger that his career in logging originated as a “fluke” built on his love of duck hunting. During an early job buying wood for Wilson Oak Flooring, he learned that some of the best timber deals are made “…hunkered down in a boat waiting for the ducks to circle ’round.” Richardson is survived by his wife, Debra, and their many children and grandchildren. Memorials may be made in his honor to Log-A-Load for Kids.

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