Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
There are roughly 900 loggers in the state of West Virginia, which makes it difficult for the West Virginia Forestry Association to name the Outstanding Logger(s) of the Year.
Officials with WVFA travel around the state and meet with loggers, learn about their business, see them in action and from there, select the most outstanding individual or business for that year.
This year, James and Lucille Pennington, of Bartow, owners of J&L Trucking, were selected by the WVFA.
This is the second time the Penningtons received the distinguished honor. They won in 2017 and represented West Virginia in the Forest Resources Association Appalachian Region. The couple was up against loggers from Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
They also won that award.
James and Lucille both grew up in the logging industry. She is a second-generation logger and he started his career at a young age.
“I worked for logging groups when I was growing up as a kid,” he said. “I’ve always loved the outdoors, so between farming and logging – we do both – I get to be outside.”
The couple worked for other companies before starting their own in 2011, after the tragic passing of their son, Will, in a logging accident.
“By working in the woods, that puts us closer to him,” James said. “I tell everybody, as long as I’m out there, he’s right beside me. I can talk to him.”
The two have become well-known for their work, so much so that they have a waiting list of landowners who want their timber cut by the best in the business.
“We don’t contract with any mills,” James said. “We are a hundred percent on our own. We’ve got three foresters that work with us and they’re all up in their high seventies, low eighties and say they’ve never worked with an outfit like us, that does such a clean job as we do.”
The Penningtons assure their customers that they will leave the land in the best shape possible once they are finished with the job.
They’ve been working with foresters for so long that they’ve picked up a few things along the way. They cruise the timber or have a forester do it, to give the landowner an approximate footage and a better idea of what the timber is worth.
“If I need expertise, I’ll call in one of those foresters and they’ll help me cut through a little place and they show me different things to look for,” James said.
The majority of their work is in Pocahontas County, but there are times the Penningtons are called to log a piece of land in Randolph County. A lot of times, the landowners live in another state and have learned about the Penningtons due to their reputation.
Once the logging is complete, James said they have several buyers they work with and find the best offer for their customers.
“We’ve had as much as seven buyers on one person’s property,” he said. “We shop around and are able to sell to the highest buyer.”
With more than 30 years in the business, the Penningtons know which businesses want hardwoods and which ones want the pulpwood. They also sell firewood for locals.
In recognition of their accomplishments, the West Virginia Senate passed a resolution February 2 recognizing James and Lucille as the state’s Outstanding Loggers of the Year. The resolution was introduced by senators Bill Hamilton and Robbie Morris.
In the resolution, the Penningtons were recognized for their “hard work, exceptional logging skills and building a company based on honesty and safety.”
The Penningtons and J&L Trucking will once again represent West Virginia in the Forest Resources Association Appalachian Region. The winner of that award will be announced in the summer.
