COLUMBUS – The Ohio Forestry Association, Inc. recognized four individuals and one company with conservation awards at its recent 98th annual meeting held in Columbus.
Those recognized were John Burns, Diamond Export Company, Athens, outstanding individual in industry; Randy Clum, forestry consultant, Dover, outstanding individual in private service; Pete Woyar, New Marshfield, for outstanding contributions by a forester to OFA programs; Jerry Grezlik, service forester with Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry, outstanding individual in government service; and H. K. Timber Harvesting, owned by Henry and Linda Kuhns, Mesopotamia, Ohio as the logger of the year.
John Burns.
John Burns, outstanding individual in industry, began his forestry career as a teenager cutting logs for a neighboring farmer in his native West Virginia.
From his teenage years until 10 years ago, Burns worked as a buyer for A.J. Hollander, a German company, owned his own sawmill, and worked for Paul Mercer Sawmill of McArthur and the late E. B. Miller of Haydenville, Ohio.
Ten years ago Burns formed a partnership with Facemyer Forest Products, creating Diamond Export Company of Athens. Burns is a member of The Ohio Forestry Association, International Wood Products Association, American Hardwood Export Council and the Indonesian Plywood Manufacturers Association.
Burns’ leadership was instrumental in forming the Wise Industry for a Sustainable Environment organization.
Randy Clum.
Randy Clum, outstanding individual in private service, is a 1977 graduate of The Ohio State University in natural resources. Clum’s first forestry position was with the Ohio Division of Forestry as an urban forester in Findlay. From there, he moved to the northern region of Ohio where was a service forester from 1985-1997.
Clum started his own independent forestry consultant service in 1997; his wife, Koral, joined the business in 2000.
Clum worked with the Ohio Tree Farm Committee for 15 years and served as the service forester contact for the East Central Ohio Forestry Association. He has served on the board of trustees for The Ohio Forestry Association. Clum, his wife and daughter own and manage their own 150-acre tree farm in Harrison County.
Pete Woyar.
Pete Woyar, outstanding contribution by a forester, received his master’s degree from Ohio University in Athens. His career includes teaching at a university and college and teaching classes for The Ohio Forestry Association.
Woyar, through his work with OFA, created an educational program for the forest industry and the environmental community that changed the way the industry does business. The programs initiated have provided a basis for forest environmental issues, safety, Best Management Practices, and instilled a higher degree of awareness of professionalism for loggers.
Woyar was instrumental in developing the training standards for Ohio’s Master Logger Company Program and developed the “train the trainer” program for the Best Management Practices (BMP) program.
Jerry Grezlik.
Jerry Grezlik, outstanding individual in government service, was raised in Amsterdam, Ohio, and graduated from Florida Forest Ranger School in 1968. He began his forestry career in 1969 as a conservation aid with the Ohio Division of Forestry.
Grezlik left his forestry career for two years to complete his military service and returned to the division in 1972. He became a forest technician in 1976 and a service forester in 1979. He is currently the service forester in Project 23.
H. K. Timber Harvesting.
H. K. Timber Harvesting, logger of the year, is owned by Henry E. Kuhns and his wife, Linda. Kuhns has both a certified and trained horse team crew and a certified and trained machine crew. The company currently employees 14 persons and works with four subcontractors.
The company averages over 2 million board feet logged per year. Kuhn uses Best Management Practices in the woods and hired a safety consultant to help prevent injuries.
H. K. Timber Harvesting is a recognized and certified Master Logging Company.
