An experienced and professional silviculturist is a valuable asset, and Lousiana-based RoyOMartin has a strong asset in forest manager Mickey Rachal (pictured above in late July 2022 with a strong young tree from one of this year’s winter loblolly pine plantings in Vernon Parish, LA).
While Mickey is a native Louisiana boy, he slipped away in the 1980’s for advanced masters-degree forestry training from what would turn out to be an elite team of Oklahoma State University professors and Oklahoma-based professionals (quality forest researchers like Tom Hennessey, Tom Lynch, Phil Dougherty and others). Afterwards, Mickey gained valuable operational timber management experience working with Scott Paper in S. Alabama. Today, and for many years now, he has put his research and operational experience to work for the benefit of the RoyOMartin corporation on their LA and TX forestlands.
RoyOMartin will co-host this year’s Forest Owners Research and Technology Exchange Meeting in Pineville, LA September 13-14th. Mickey and I spent a day early last week picking out final tour stops for the in-the-field portion of the upcoming meeting. It was an enlightening and enjoyable day. The outdoor tour portion on RoyOMartin lands will focus on utilizing one of Mickey’s silvicultural strengths: strong insight into genetic potential and its empowerment of varying deployment regimes designed to match the different regional forest product markets that he and his experienced forest management team operate in. Participants will be able to hear why these decisions are made, how the stand establishment plans are executed, and how they positively impact the RoyOMartin land base and its future forest product flow to RoyOMartin processing mills.