A MESSAGE TO ALL MEMBERS OF ASSOCIATED CALIFORNIA LOGGERS, AND TO ALL COLLEAGUES AND FRIENDS OF THE ASSOCIATION, FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ERIC CARLESON
“It is with great pride, and not a little emotion, that I announce I shall be retiring this year. This will occur sometime later in 2026. I expect to continue as the Executive Director of Associated California Loggers until a smooth transition can take place.
I am completing 20 years in this position, and this position has been a deeply satisfying way for me to spend these important years in my life and to help cap my professional career.
Representing the timber industry and forest health in California is a challenge, to be sure. But there can be no more rewarding experience than to know that one is serving the hard-working men and women of the logging and log hauling sector of the industry. I have been particularly moved by the number of multi-generational families who are among our membership and serve on our board. At the same time, our “solo members” and owner operators are an equally important part of this sector.
Together, our Regular Members and Associate Members constitute the backbone of the rural timber economy. They live and work in the forests they love. They stand on the front lines of wildfire prevention and suppression. They collect and transport the wood materials that provide alternative biomass energy to the state while clearing the forests of fire-danger debris. And they are helping establish the growing marketplace of new types of forest products (like mass timber) to stand alongside our traditional harvest work, and stewardship of the land.
Having talked to many “retirees” who have come before me, I anticipate that some new, likely smaller-scale, projects lie ahead for me, and I will be keeping my California license to practice law. Also, I really AM “going to spend more time with my family.” (This is not the usual boilerplate. I have grandchildren.) i also look forward to the pursuits of my later years with my friends.
Among those friends, I trust, are some of the men and women it has been my honor in representing at Associated California Loggers for 20 years, and in representing other segments of the timber industry for many years before that. I thank you all.”
