Last week, Marks Lumber was honored to be presented the Governor’s inaugural Forest Products Award. Governor Greg Gianforte created the Forest Products Award in 2021 to help encourage and abide by our commitment to actively manage forests in Montana. According to Governor Gianforte, the award recognizes “an individual or entity that has gone above-and-beyond in promoting better stewardship of our forests through our thriving wood products industry.” Gianforte noted that he hoped that award would help to inspire more citizens to take part in active forest management in one way or another.

This award recognizes Marks Lumber’s recent efforts to bring public awareness to the benefits of active forest management and demonstrate how the timber products industry can help create lasting, healthy forests. It also recognizes Marks Lumber’s own forest management efforts and attempts to promote the Montana forest products industry and the use of Montana wood products.

Other Awards This Year

In addition to this most recent award, Marks Lumber and Steve Marks have also been presented with two other notable awards this year: The Montana Wood Products Association’s Communicator of the Year Award and the Montana Tree Farm System’s Logger of the Year Award. Similar to the Forest Products Award, the qualifications for these awards were centered around advocacy for the industry and our forests.

Marks Lumber is honored to be the chosen recipient of these awards. As always, our focus is on doing the right thing by our forests and by our community. Being recognized by our peers and colleagues is so affirming and demonstrates the importance of this type of advocacy.

Forest health isn’t just an industry concern. The state of our forests affects everyone, providing clean air and water, recreational opportunities, ample wildlife habitat, and wood and paper products. Everyone has a voice in forest management decisions and can help advocate for our forests.