On Thursday, May 18th at its annual Loggers’ Banquet in Bangor, the Northeastern Loggers’ Association presented Northern Maine Community College Assistant Dean Leah Buck with the 2022 Outstanding Contributions to Forest Industry Education award. This year will be Buck’s 28th year with NMCC.
“It’s great to be recognized for the hard work we have done to develop and deliver the mechanized logging operations program since 2017,” said Buck. “This is a unique program that has a great reputation for training quality operators throughout the State of Maine and beyond — these are folks who learned to safely and efficiently operate the newest logging equipment and bring great value to their employers.”
Buck shared that she is proud of the graduates of this program and grateful to all the valuable partners who have assisted in making this happen each year. “The use of technology in today’s harvesting equipment is tremendous and training students to use it effectively helps get the most out of every tree,” stated Buck. “Being selected for this award by the Northeastern Loggers’ Association confirms to me that this training is valued by the industry and that we have built a program that is helping to shape the workforce of loggers for the future. I am appreciative of that acknowledgement.”
According to NELA, the award is presented to someone who has “increased knowledge and understanding of the forest industry or any one of its parts.” Award winners’ contributions to education can be professional, vocational, technical, or directed toward the public at large.
The mission of the Northeastern Loggers’ Association is to serve its members and the region’s forest industry by developing and promoting programs and services that strengthen the community as a whole and help members produce products and environmental benefits to meet the needs of the American people.
NELA hosts its awards banquet every year on the evening before it opens its annual Loggers’ Expo, which was held May 19-20 at the Cross Insurance Center. The expo location rotates between Bangor and Essex Junction, Vermont, and showcases between 200 and 250 exhibitors, regularly attracting between 5,000 and 7,000 attendees.
