Page 24 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - First Quarter 2021

PROLOGGER PULSE
THE PROLOGGER PROGRAM: Saving Lives in North Carolina
BY SAMANTHA LONG,
MEMBERSHIP SERVICES COORDINATOR
The NCFA’s ProLogger Program was officially started in 1994 in response to a record 13 timber harvesting fatalities in North
Carolina in 1993. In 2005, the ProLogger Program added a continuing education element in the form of an annual Module Class, which further promotes the founding elements of the program: environment, safety, and business.
The program shares valuable information with our state’s ProLoggers each year, and the success of the program can be seen all throughout North Carolina.
Females in Forestry
Diversity in North Carolina’s forestry industry is growing each year, and to recognize this progress, the NCFA is proud to highlight two female members who actively contribute to the forestry industry. Blair Allman and Lauren Killian are both ProLoggers who demonstrate strong dedication to their careers and the forestry industry as a whole. They set a fantastic example to those around them and are paving the way for young women to follow in their footsteps.
Blair Allman
A good ProLogger is someone who is knowledgeable about the environment, demonstrates safety in the field, and educates themselves and others about the forestry industry. An outstanding ProLogger is someone who does all of this and still goes above and beyond in both their workplace and community. Blair Allman is an excellent example of an outstanding ProLogger who not only participates in the ProLogger program but takes her knowledge and uses it to benefit her community.
Allman’s journey began when she completed an internship with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Service the summer prior to her freshman year at North Carolina State University (NCSU).
“Just be yourself and work hard, and having a strong work ethic will get you very far.”
— Blair Allman
Growing up in the Smoky Mountains, Allman always loved being outside in nature. Her internship with the National Park Service helped solidify her future goals. She graduated from NCSU with a major in Forestry in 2017. She was fortunate in college to work with several foresters, and her knowledge in forestry helped her land an internship with Weyerhaeuser
the summer after her graduation. Her experiences in college gave her insight on silviculture, fertilization, site preparation, and contract logging. Allman was hired by Weyerhaeuser as a Resource Forester in 2017, and in 2019, she took on her current role as Planning Forester.
As one of only two Planning Foresters for Weyerhaeuser in North Carolina, Allman manages timberlands from the Pamlico River to Gates County (more than 250,000 acres). She happily spends most of her time in the field and is responsible for evaluating and prepping each stand before it is either thinned or harvested. Her daily responsibilities include creating maps, checking soil drainage, measuring tree heights and diameters, scouting for threatened or endangered species, flagging bluelines and/or SMZs, and getting the stand ready for the logging crew. Allman’s position is especially important as she gives the final approval before any stand
under her management is logged. Community service and education
outreach are important to Allman. She is a board member and forestry representative for the United Way of Coastal Carolina, an organization that aids in hurricane disaster relief funding in Eastern North Carolina. She is also heavily involved with her local Croatan Chapter of the Society of American Foresters (SAF), one of the largest chapters of SAF in North Carolina. As chair for the past several years, Allman has assisted
her chapter with community outreach events, such as sponsoring a local Eagle Scout project and adopting a highway. She volunteers at Envirothon and the NCFA’s Sustainable Forestry Teachers Experience each year, and regularly participates in job fairs and career days to educate the public and impart her knowledge of forestry.
Allman says she is thrilled to be
in her role as Planning Forester and is looking forward to future opportunities at Weyerhaeuser. Her advice to any young woman thinking about joining the forestry industry in any facet is to “just be yourself and work hard. Having a strong work ethic will get you very far.”
The NCFA is proud to highlight Blair Allman for setting such a great example for those around her and being an outstanding ProLogger.
22 ncforestry.org / FIRST QUARTER 2021