Cochran, GA
Logging is no doubt big business here in Georgia, as it contributes almost forty billion dollars to the state’s economy, which of course wouldn’t be possible without hard working loggers and logging operations like this one in middle Georgia – Sanders Logging, a family run operation that’s hard at work harvesting timber with the next generation taking over the reins.
“I’m a third generation, so my grandaddy and my father started this company back a long time ago and they incorporated it back in 1982, so that’s how we started off; we started off short wooding and it kind of transformed into what it is today,” says Harry Sanders III, Co-Owner of Sanders Logging. “I was born in ‘91 and I knew from a young age that I always wanted to be a logger, so I grew up around it and as soon as I could get out here and get on a piece of equipment, I did. I was fortunate enough to go to the University of Georgia to Warnell for forestry school and I graduated back in 2014 and I’ve been full-time with the company ever since.
Sanders has certainly found his stride, as he still has the same passion he had when he was younger, even taking that passion a step further by becoming an advocate for the state’s forestry industry and the work they do every day – something he believes is important for the future of the industry and business.
“I thoroughly love what I do and I love to tell people about what I do because a general consensus of the logging industry or a logger in general is we’re cutting trees, we’re hurting the environment and all, but we’re really not. We’re really managers of a crop we call trees, so I guess one of my biggest things is I just want to educate the public on what we do and I feel that you need to get out in front of people that don’t quite understand what we do,” says Sanders. “So, that’s been my biggest driver is really telling my story and in doing that, that’s given me opportunities to speak at the capitol, it’s given me opportunities to speak to schools, classrooms of all ages, and I’ve really enjoyed doing that and I hope to continue to be able to do that.”
It’s because of that passion, hard work, and dedication that Sanders not only loves what he does but has been named the titles of Georgia Logger of the Year and Southeast Logger of the year – an honor he says was earned by not only him, but everyone that he works alongside day in and day out.
“Sometimes you get lost in the day to day, just the work we do every day and when somebody gives you a pat on the back; sometimes it’s worth more than money can buy, so I would say that’s kind of my stance on it is that I’m really blessed that somebody saw that we’ve done a good job and they wanted to put us forth,” says Sanders. “It’s been a blessing to see that my peers and other industries voted us, not me, it’s my whole crowd the Georgia Logger of the Year and the Southeast Logger of the Year as well.”
By: John Holcomb