The Situation Loggers are a critical link in the management of forest land, particularly on forests whose owners are less active in directly managing their property. Unfortunately, if communication between landowners, loggers, or foresters is inadequate, the resulting timber harvests may not meet expectations. State forest practices laws remedy this somewhat, but they are designed to provide minimum criteria, and loggers may not fully appreciate the reasons these regulations were created. That is particularly critical, since increasing use of mechanized harvesting tools gives loggers more responsibility in the woods. Also, since most loggers work on many forest properties in a year, they have contact with multiple forest owners.
Loggers provide another vehicle to communicate with a larger number of private forest owners.
The more loggers know about forest management, the better they can communicate with forest owners, foresters, and others involved in managing private forest resources. Participating in education programs can simultaneously improve the demand for their services, and document their commitment to forest stewardship. Many loggers are landowners, and have participated in University of Idaho Cooperative Extension System programs designed for forest owners. However, in the past, few were targeted directly to loggers. LEAP features more than 20 hours of training designed to increase loggers' understanding and skills related to forest ecology, silviculture, and water quality.