Current SHARP Logger Newsletter

May 2025 SHARP Logger Newsletter (pdf)

May 2025 SHARP Logger Newsletter (video)

 

Virginia Logger’s Association Update
by Ron Jenkins


The year 2025 is a landmark for loggers and haulers who want to use Virginia’s interstate highways to haul the maximum legal weight of unrefined forest products from tract to mill. We do not believe anyone has ever sponsored a bill in Congress to authorize hauling the maximum legal weight of 90,000 pounds of forest and unprocessed agricultural crops on just Virginia interstates. Congressman John McGuire won Congressional District 5 seat in November and made it his priority that his first bill would be for loggers.

Congressman McGuire’s bill is H. R. 1487 and was assigned to the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and referred by committee to the subcommittee on Highways & Transit. Ensuring H. R. 1487 becomes law in 2025 is the greatest priority of the Virginia Loggers Association. However, like most important accomplishments the VLA needs your help. We would like to ask you to contact your representative in Congress and tell them how important passage of H. R. 1487 would be to your business. You can quickly and easily reach your representative in Congress by going online to https://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/. You can also contact Ron Jenkins anytime at info@valoggers.org or 804-677-4290.

A Safety Short
By Pat Donnelly, WVU


As some people may say “communication is the key to a lasting relationship.” This is also the case on a logging site. There must be the ability to contact everyone on the crew if needed, whether it be cell phones, handheld radios, or CB’s. I can relate to you many stories where a worker was hurt and could not contact someone due to no service or no radios at all. Take the time to make sure whatever you choose to use works everywhere on your job. If an accident happens you will be glad you did!

 

Virginia’s Hardwood Initiative
Article by Joe Rossetti, Virginia Department of Forestry


Timber Stand Improvement, or TSI, is a generic term foresters use to communicate ways to make the forest better. The last several newsletters have included an article on different types of TSI, and in this article we’ll cover another, crop tree release. Crop trees can be chosen for several objectives such as economic, wildlife or aesthetic. The technique works the same regardless: Select and release the trees with the best traits for your objectives. These are your crop trees.

After crop trees are selected and marked, competing trees are cut or treated with herbicide. Competing trees are those that have a crown that is touching or is close to touching the crop trees’ crowns. Trees that are entirely underneath the crop trees are not competing for light and don’t need to be controlled. Once competing trees are cut, the crop trees have space to expand their crowns, grow faster and provide more benefits to the landowner sooner.

Crop tree release is best done in young, dense hardwood stands where the trees are about 3-6 inches in diameter, but the practice can be used with trees of any size. Important factors to consider when choosing crop trees are the species, stem quality, spacing between trees, and how many to find. Crop trees should
always have crowns in the forest canopy. 

Try to pick trees at least 20 feet apart and concentrate on picking the best ones. 35 to 40 crop trees per acre is usually plenty. This work can be done with a brush saw, chainsaw or herbicide. A pesticide applicator’s license is needed to apply herbicide commercially for a client. Girdling is not a reliable method to control competing trees, as girdled trees often grow over the damage and survive. Therefore, felling or herbicide are the only methods used.


Many hardwood forests have been harvested hard enough to result in regeneration, even if that wasn’t part of the plan. Those stands will normally benefit from crop tree release to maximize growth on the best trees. While loggers don’t often work in small diameter hardwood stands, this could be an opportunity for you and your crew to provide more services for your landowners and work on days when mills aren’t taking wood. If you’d like more information, please contact Joe Rossetti at Joe.Rossetti@DOF.Virginia.gov.

 

Other News

The Department of Forestry's 2024 BMP Audit Report is now available.

 

Past "News and Upcoming" information can be found in Explore\Resources

 

last updated 2/7/2025