It is easy to celebrate National Truck Drivers Appreciation Week. What’s not to like? Truckers make our entire modern way of life possible! They bring us a bountiful variety of fresh food to urban and rural areas alike.

Hurricane season is here. The damage these powerful storms can cause to forestland is immense, and recent in our memories due to the devastation caused by Hurricanes Florence and Michael last year. More than $2 billion in timber loss was caused by Hurricane Michael alone. Everyone’s top priority in these catastrophic events is safety.

With a smartphone in almost everyone’s pocket, opportunities to use technology to improve the forest industry supply chain are growing.

Earlier in the year, we announced the formation of the Workforce Connections Initiative in the Western Region. The main goal is to connect qualified candidates with those companies in the Pacific Northwest who have labor shortages and problems filling open positions.

August 12-18 is “Safe and Sound Week.” The OSHA website states that it is a nationwide event held each August to recognize the successes of workplace health and safety programs, and it encourages organizations to participate by planning and promoting safety events.

Every two years, the Forest Resources Association hosts an advocacy day in Washington, D.C. where our members “fly-in” from all over the country to meet with elected representatives in Congress and officials in the federal Executive Branch.