April 2026

The first cover of Timber Processing magazine

The cover of that very first issue in 1976, though not especially attractive on newsprint, was of a Swecan quad bandmill installed in a new SYP high-speed small log sawmill built by Joe N. Miles Lumber in Silver Creek, Miss. Close-coupled canters fed into the quad. The article stated: “It’s the talk of the South.”

But nearly from the get-go the new magazine featured sawmills not only in the Southern U.S., but throughout the U.S., softwood and hardwood alike. No small challenge for an editorial staff based in Montgomery, Ala. In 1976 they hit the ground running, and visited 26 sawmills that year.

Later in that first year, a story featured the first edger optimizer in a U.S. sawmill—a Saab-Totem unit at Weyerhaeuser’s sawmill in Cottage Grove, Ore.

The next big leap for the magazine came two years later in January 1978, when it punted on the newsprint tabloid format in favor of what you’re seeing today— conventional magazine size with coated paper. In that 1978 issue, the publishers stated the obvious, “Newsprint reproduction quality is limited.” And more importantly, they noted the growing popularity of four-color advertisements, which were obviously more appealing on coated stock.

Most impressive in that January 1978 issue was a four-color, two-page spread advertisement from Corley about its ”Big Double Arbor Gang.” Another four-color two-page spread was from Lumber Systems Inc.

For the record, the magazine’s logo was redesigned in 1985 and the word “Industry” was dropped from the title. Another big moment came in January 1989, when Timber Processing featured its first “Man of the Year,” namely Duane Vaagen of Vaagen Brothers Lumber in Colville, Wash. He was the first of 38 (and still counting) annual recipients of the recognition, later renamed “Person of the Year.”

Yours truly joined the staff in late 1983 and it has been a heck of a ride ever since, though one of my most memorable “rides” was one of my early ones. It came in the summer of 1986. Over several days I drove to Pacific Lumber in Scotia, Calif.; Paul Bunyan Lumber in Anderson, Calif.; Cone Lumber in Goshen, Ore.; Hanel Lumber in Odell, Ore.; and Ellingson Lumber in Baker City, Ore. I met some absolutely great sawmillers. Where are they now?

Here’s to the Golden Anniversary!