Our History - Loggers Leading Their Professional Destiny

During 1995, the Minnesota Timber Producers Association (MTPA) assembled a task force comprised of logging business owners who, over a period of several months, developed a vision as to how they would like to see their logger education program structured. The task force met numerous times to reach consensus regarding MLEP program requirements, core curricula focus areas, funding mechanisms, and organizational strategies. A program outline was developed and it was decided that a private non-profit educational corporation [501(c)(3)] would be developed to facilitate implementation and administration of program activities. The MTPA task force was also charged with the responsibility of establishing legal recognition of the organization, as well as establishing its primary objectives, participant requirements, development of a Board of Directors, and selection of an Executive Director to coordinate movement of the program’s directives.

Of primary concern, the task force was committed to ensuring that MLEP addressed the actual training needs as identified by loggers and that it combined the most effective programs in existence with emerging educational and communication related needs unique to Minnesota’s logging and forestry communities. As a result, MLEP adopted the following charter objectives into its overall mission for enhancing logger professionalism within the state:

“MLEP will assess training needs of loggers, review, improve, consolidate, and organize existing logger continuing education programming currently being offered throughout Minnesota, and develop new training opportunities that do not currently exist. These activities will lead to a more coherent approach to the provision of high quality logger continuing education services prevent inconsistencies with regard to training that does not coincide with actual training needs, and avoid unproductive overlapping of training topics and scheduling. This will serve the purpose of providing for the ongoing educational needs of loggers operating within the state through educational attainment of sustainable forestry principles, responsible business practices, and workplace safety. The organization will also identify and secure research and development partnership opportunities intended to enhance effectiveness with regard to curriculum design and delivery approaches, needs assessment strategies, application of adult education learning theories, and program promotion methods. Taken together, these activities will serve to augment productive application of educational program services and administration.”