December 6, 2023 3:30 a.m.
The Oregon Department of Forestry has announced that Roseburg-based logging firm Plikat Logging Inc. has been chosen as the forest Operator of the Year for Southwest Oregon.
An ODF release said a regional advisory committee to the Oregon Board of Forestry selected Plikat earlier this fall. The company will be recognized in Salem at the January meeting of the Board.
The award recognizes forest operators who, while harvesting timber or doing other forestry work, protect natural resources at a level that consistently meets or goes above and beyond requirements of the Oregon Forest Practices Act. That law requires people to manage forests responsibly and protect streams and water quality, protect and enhance habitat and reduce landslide risks. The law also requires landowners to replant forests after harvesting.
Landowner Roseburg Resources nominated Plikat Logging for Operator of the Year. The release said they pointed out Plikat’s willingness to protect streams by shutting down winter operations unprompted during heavy rainfalls. They also pointed out how Plikat safely logged steep hillsides while carefully protecting buffers around fish-bearing streams by careful placement of rigging corridors where logs were passed over the buffer or through pre-existing gaps in trees.
ODF Stewardship Forester Donnie Widener said Plikat also maintained access to a popular tourist attraction – the Doerner Fir, also known as the Brummit Fir. At 327 feet, the Douglas-fir is one of the tallest trees in the world. Widener said, “The only road to the fir passed right through Plikat’s logging operation, which they would halt to let visitors pass through safely”.
Geoff Plickat told News Radio 93-9 FM and 1240 KQEN that, “We at Plikat Logging always strive to do the best job we can. We pride ourselves on going above and beyond to do a good job. We have always strived to do quality work for the land owners that we work for”. Plikat said, “I believe this has gotten us to where we are today and the employees that we have help make that work successful. We are just like the rest of the folks out there trying to make a living; we don’t feel like we are any different”.
Two southern Oregon logging firms were given an Award of Merit:
*Roseburg-based Austin Weber of Weber Logging and Construction Inc. for consistent employment of innovative logging technology in steep-slope areas to protect fish-bearing streams and minimize soil disturbance and erosion
*Don Hamman of Don Hamman Inc. in Butte Falls for assisting small landowners in urban-adjacent, high-visibility areas with thinning to reduce wildfire risk
Videos about the three Operators of the Year and five Merit Award winners can be viewed at: https://www.oregon.gov/odf/Working/Pages/default.aspx