Looking for a Logger?

The Kentucky Master Logger website has a searchable database enabling you to find a logger in your area.  Click on the Find a Logger button to search for a logger in your area.

What is the Kentucky Master Logger Program?

The Kentucky Master Logger Program was developed in 1992 by the University of Kentucky Department of Forestry Extension, Kentucky Forest Industries Association (KFIA) and Kentucky Division of Forestry (KDF) as partners.  Master Loggers who attended the program was voluntary from 1992 through July 15, 2000.  On this date the Kentucky Forest Conservation Act became effective which requires all logging operations to have one person on site and in charge that has successfully completed the 3-day program. Woodland owners can benefit from this law by having their logging operation inspected by KDF to help ensure that everything is being done correctly to protect water quality. 

What is A Bad Actor?

When a logger and/or operator fails to comply with all rules and regulations specified in the Kentucky Forest Conservation Act, that person and/or company will be placed on the ‘Bad Actor’ list.  This means that a specific water quality violation and/or violations have been created and not corrected for a particular logging site or sites.  Click here to read a Kentucky Woodlands Magazine article about Bad Actors.

What Woodland Owners Need to Know

Woodland owners need to know several key pieces of information about Kentucky Master Loggers and laws relating to loggers. All commercial logging operations must have master loggers on-site and in charge. Woodland owners engaging in a timber harvest would be wise to ensure that the logging firm has a master logger; if not, the operation could be shut down until a master logger is in place. Also, all jobs must use BMPs to protect water quality including:
 

•  leaving some trees around streams,
•  keeping treetops out of streams,
•  ensuring that roads and skid trails have water control structures on them, and
•  revegetating roads, trails, and landings that are either steep or close to streams.

If a particular logging firm or individual has been deficient in the use of BMPs to a significant degree on past jobs, they may very well have a “bad actor” designation. This designation is given to a master logger and/or a logging firm that has failed to abide by the use of BMPs to protect water quality. You can check to see whether an individual is a Kentucky Master Logger and whether a person or a firm is a bad actor by using the official Master Logger Web site found at www.masterlogger.org. Once on the site, click on “Find Master Loggers,” and you can search for master loggers by name, county, and other options such as whether the logger is a bad actor. A full list of bad actors including logging firms is also listed on the “Find Master Loggers” page.

   
Woodland Owner Responsibility

It is important that woodland owners realize they must have a written Agriculture Water Quality Plan for their property and make sure that the plan is implemented. This plan must specific what BMPs will be used to protect water quality. The landowner must be sure that the logger uses BMPs or else the landowner can be held responsible for the water quality problems. “Forestry Water Quality Plan” an extension publication (FOR-96) of the University of Kentucky provides woodland owners with all they need to easily develop a water quality plan for their property. Click here to read a Kentucky Woodlands Magazine article on the Forestry Water Quality Plan.