[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 130 (Friday, September 24, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1747]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING MIKE WIEDEMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GREG WALDEN

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 24, 2010

  Mr. WALDEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
accomplishments and contributions of a great American, a life-long 
Oregonian and logger, Mike Wiedeman, of Enterprise, Oregon. Mike has 
been a leader and an innovator for over four decades in one of Oregon's 
most important and historic industries: the logging industry.
  Tomorrow I will have the privilege of tipping my hat to Mike as he 
concludes his service as the president of the American Loggers Council 
at its 16th annual meeting in Pendleton, Oregon. The American Loggers 
Council is a coalition of 30 state logging associations from throughout 
the United States. I can personally attest to the effectiveness of the 
American Loggers Council, Mike and his predecessors at bringing to 
Congress's attention the issues, concerns and challenges facing their 
industry and the health of our forests and rural forested communities.
  Madam Speaker, Mike Wiedeman also has a long and distinguished record 
of service to his state association, the Associated Oregon Loggers. He 
was recognized as the association's Logger of the Year in 1990. He 
served as the association's president from 1997-1998 and was one of the 
founding board members of the association's Friends of Paul Bunyan 
Foundation, a philanthropic organization that has contributed hundreds 
of thousands of dollars to education and public service organizations. 
He was one of the first organizers and leaders of the Log A Load For 
Kids program to raise funds for Oregon hospitals that specialize in the 
treatment of children with special needs. And finally, Mike currently 
serves as the chairman of the association's Wallowa County chapter.
  After beginning his career in the coastal town of Powers, Oregon, 
Mike has logged from northern California to Alaska and back to Oregon. 
While in Alaska he met his bride Sandy who was working in a logging 
camp. They have three children they adore and whom I have had the 
pleasure of meeting and are now experiencing the joy of being 
grandparents to two grandkids.
  For the past 32 years Mike has been a partner and owner of BTO 
Logging, Inc. in Enterprise, Oregon. This small, rural community 
surrounded by federal forest lands, not unlike many in Oregon's second 
congressional district, is arguably one of the most beautiful places in 
my state, if not in the entire country. The timbered lands in the 
surrounding Wallowa-Whitman National Forest suffer from some of the 
worst forest health issues of any in the intermountain West. Consistent 
with his human nature in assessing a serious problem, Mike saw a highly 
productive opportunity to utilize the dead and dying overstocked forest 
stands to generate renewable energy. As a member and subsequent 
chairman of the Enterprise School Board, Mike recently led the charge 
to build and install a woody biomass heating system at the local 
school. This system now utilizes wood material removed from forest 
health projects on nearby forests.
  Madam Speaker, Mr. Wiedeman's logging operation utilizes a system 
that allows logs to be removed by fully suspending them on up to nearly 
4,000 feet of cable above the ground protecting the soil and remaining 
plant life. His method, which is considered one of the most dangerous 
in logging, allows him to treat forest stands in difficult terrain, 
often flying logs over deep and normally inaccessible canyons.
  Madam Speaker, on the eve of completing his term as president of the 
American Loggers Council, I would like our colleagues to join me in 
thanking Mike Wiedeman for his exemplary service to his community, the 
industry that he loves and the associations that represent it both here 
in the nation's capital and in the state of Oregon. It's my honor to 
call Mike a good friend, and to represent him in the U.S. Congress. 
Mike is a hard charging and dedicated individual and the kind of guy 
you're lucky to find as a neighbor. He has been quoted as saying, ``My 
whole philosophy in life is you can't get anywhere standing still.'' 
And I can assure you, Madam Speaker, Mike is not standing still.

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