CHESTERFIELD, N.H. — David Rondeau, based in Orford, N.H., is the 2018 Outstanding Logger, as awarded by the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association (NHTOA). The award was presented to Mr. Rondeau at the NHTOA’s 107th Annual Meeting at the Chesterfield Central School in Chesterfield.
Modest to a fault, David says, “I just try to do the best I can.”
“Loggers like David are the backbone of New England timber harvesting,” says NHTOA executive director Jasen Stock. “He’s hard-working, dedicated to doing what’s right for the forest as well as for his clients, and his word is his bond. This is what New Hampshire is truly all about – men like David Rondeau.”
A graduate in forestry of Paul Smiths College in upstate New York, David, who grew up in Connecticut, has spent his entire career in the Upper Valley region, working at various times for Fred Weld in Cornish and John O’Brien in Orford. He’s been an independent logger for 30 years, and at this point in his career David finds himself returning to cut trees on timber sales that he cut 20 years ago. There’s a satisfaction, he says, “in seeing healthy re-generation in a woodlot I worked on years ago,” adding “I like a good hardwood job. They come out cleaner. But I like working on Pine, too. Well, when you get down to it, I like any job with a lot of sawlogs.”
He says that at 61 years old, “I suppose I should be thinking about retirement. But I want to work another 10 years, at least. I like what I do, being in the woods and working. It’s quiet, you see wildlife, you see things other people can only imagine seeing. It’s a great job, and until I can’t do it anymore, I’m going to keep doing it.”