On March 8, the Oregon Board of Forestry recognized Plikat Logging of Camas Valley, owned by Wally Plikat, as the Operator of the Year for southern Oregon. The award was given at the board’s regularly scheduled meeting. The award recognizes logging operators who consistently perform above the minimum standards set forth in Oregon’s Forest Practices Act for protecting natural resources. Operators are judged on how well they protect soil, water, wildlife habitat and scenic corridors among other natural resources, especially in difficult terrain or challenging circumstances. An example of the lengths to which Plikat goes to protect water quality as mandated in the Forest Practices Act is the company’s success logging a 63-acre stand of trees on a steep hillside above a fish-bearing stream near Elkton in Douglas County. According to Department of Forestry Stewardship Forester Jay Morey, Plikat loggers had to set up steel cables a distance of more than 2,000 feet across the stream and its protective buffer of trees in order to ferry logs to waiting trucks. Plikat Logging has been in business since 1981, employing over 80 people and participating in the community through donations and their support of local sports teams and events such as Fourth of July celebrations.
