Ken Fallon Logging was announced today as the Oregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) Northwest Regional Operator of the Year.

Ken Fallon, a Tillamook-based logger since 1968, was honored for work on the Jordan Bound timber sale in the Tillamook State Forest – a harvest site with steep terrain and limited road access.

“Steep” meant some log trucks and equipment operating at grades between 20 percent and 35 percent, including instances where a heavy-lift bulldozer pulled fully loaded log trucks up the hill for additional support. Harvesting trees on ridges also meant using cable harvest systems that extended over a mile long to keep trees suspended above the ground, a measure that helps protect soil.

“Ken Fallon’s crews always seem to get our most difficult jobs,” said Joe Travers, timber sale administrator with the ODF Tillamook District. “The Jordan Bound units have probably been among the toughest logging we’ve had on our district in a long time.”

Fallon Logging employs more than 100 people in northwestern Oregon. Fallon is known for being involved in community events around Tillamook, and was also honored as Forest Practices Operator of the Year in 2004.

The state Board of Forestry established the Forest Practices Operator of the Year and Merit Awards program honors individuals and businesses that consistently meet or exceed the natural resource protection standards set by the Oregon Forest Practices Act. The Act requires post-harvest reforestation, streamside buffers, road-building and maintenance standards, and other measures to protect natural resources during forest operations.

The winners will be recognized during the statewide meeting of Associated Oregon Loggers in Eugene on Janu. 10, during the Oregon Logging Conference in February, and at the Board’s March 6 meeting in Salem.

George Hagedorn, with Hagedorn Logging of La Grande, was named the Eastern Oregon Region Operator of the Year.

Seven companies were also recognized for excellence as Merit Award winners for 2012:

* DeSantis Drilling of Silverton

* Jim Graf Logging of Myrtle Creek

* Hennes Logging of Gates

* JWTR LLC of Klamath Falls

* Lankford Logging of Pilot Rock

* Meng Logging of Molalla

* Watterson Logging of John Day