SUMMERSVILLE – 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 recently of the Missouri
Forest Products Association in Osage Beach.
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 Tuttle 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.
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.