Virginia SHARP Logger Program
Type: Nomination of a group, possibly including the nominator
Category: Achievement - Individual Program Leadership
Scott Barrett is an Extension Associate and currently serves as the Virginia SHARP logger program coordinator and has provided program leadership to the SHARP Logger program since 2002 when it became a Virginia Tech Forestry Extension program. The Virginia SHARP Logger Program (www.sharplogger.vt.edu) is a statewide program and provides training to Virginia loggers, foresters, and others on the principles of sustainable forestry, workplace safety, and environmental protection. The SHARP Logger program is a partnership with VA Tech Forestry Extension and Virginia’s Forest Industry through the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Program. SFI program participant companies encourage loggers to attend trainings and the SHARP Logger program provides training to logging businesses across Virginia. The forest industry is a multibillion dollar industry and an important component of Virginia’s economy. Virginia’s loggers serve as a vital link in the forest products supply chain which includes forest landowners growing trees for future harvest, loggers who harvest and transport timber to mills, and the mills which produce forest products which consumers demand. Logging operations are a critical component when it comes to implementing management and harvesting objectives and converting wood volume into value. Timber harvesting can also be the point during forest management with the greatest potential for site impact and water quality impacts. Even during good economic times, operating a logging business can be challenging and logging is consistently one of the most dangerous occupations in the country. The recent economic downturn has been especially challenging for logging businesses and the forest products manufacturers who have seen sharp declines in demand as housing and other markets dropped off.
The SHARP Logger core program consists of three 6-hour classes which participants must attend to become a SHARP logger. After becoming a SHARP logger, participants maintain their status by attending 12 hours of Continuing Education (CE) every three years. The program offers an average of 40-50 trainings per year in cooperation with district Forestry and Natural Resources Extension Agents. Statewide, approximately 1000 participants per year attend one or more SHARP Logger trainings. Trainings focus on implementing Best Management Practices (BMPs) to protect water quality, logging safety, legal compliance, and classes on utilizing technology such as GPS. There are over 1400 current SHARP loggers representing the vast majority of all logging businesses in Virginia.
In 2009 Scott conducted a mail survey of all SHARP Logger program participants to learn more about their operations, determine which classes would be most beneficial for participants and gauge the effectiveness of previous trainings. Survey results indicated that 70% of Virginia logging business owners have made changes or improvements to their operations as a result of attending SHARP Logger trainings. The most common changes these business owners reported were improvements in safety and improvement in implementation of BMPs to protect water quality during timber harvests.
One of the issues identified in the survey and often voiced by attendees at classes was that it can be a hardship on their business when they have to attend trainings. Typically if the owner or foreman goes to a training during the day, they have to shut down their whole production which costs them a considerable amount of lost revenue. As a result, Scott worked to develop an online training format that loggers could use as one option for earning the CE credits required to maintain their SHARP Logger status. He worked with the Virginia Department of Forestry to develop training content which would be applicable to loggers across the state. The first two online trainings were made available in late 2009 and focused on Water Quality and Laws affecting timber harvesting. Later, a basic timber cruising class was added along with a class on how to conduct a deed search. All of these online training topics came directly from suggestions received from loggers. The most recent online training is a basic chainsaw safety and felling techniques class which will be applicable to loggers, foresters, forest landowners, and others involved in using chainsaws. All of the online trainings are available at http://sharplogger.vt.edu/onlineCE.html and will soon be incorporated into the Virginia LEAF website at http://valeaf.org/ to reach a broader audience.
Loggers have responded positively to the on-line trainings and results indicate that they like this method of earning CE credits. After just over a year, over 500 individuals completed an on-line class. An evaluation form was included at the end of the training and of the users that completed the evaluation form, 99% indicated that they would like to use online training programs again. When asked to rank the training in terms of ease of use, 97% ranked the on-line format as either “very easy” or “not too bad”. When given the option to write in comments, many loggers wrote in comments such as: “Please add more on-line trainings”; “I like being able to do trainings at night”; “saves gas”; “I like not having to travel to classes.” While a few responses mentioned technical challenges with the user’s computer, the vast majority of responses have been positive.
Online training will not meet the needs of everyone in the program. Some loggers do not even have internet access, and there is no real substitute for face to face trainings with an expert speaker. However, having an option for online training has been a success for the SHARP logger Continuing Education program. Loggers have access to training whenever it fits into their schedule and they don’t have to stop their production to attend class. With the initial success of the online training programs, additional trainings are in development and online training will likely continue to be one option for loggers to earn Continuing Education credits. Online training has proven to be a welcome addition to the trainings offered through the SHARP logger program.
