Timber Buyers

A majority of our timber purchasing comes from our excellent reputation. Our timber buyers play an important role in contributing to this reputation. They do an excellent job in cruising a parcel of land and determining the value of the wood products on the ground. Our buyers will recommend a course of action based on their experience and cruise data. Another major part of our good reputation comes from the fact that there will be no pressure to sell or to perform a specific type of harvest. Ultimately the decision is totally left in the hands of the landowner regarding if they wish to sell and when they wish to sell.

Once a decision is made to sell, our buyers work to create a sales contract that gives the company flexibility in timing the harvest operation and gives the landowner the very best prices for their timber. Pricing has many facets, with market trends being the dominant factor, but distance to the mills and the type of wood being sold will also have a major effect on the money a landowner gets for their product. Age and quality of the stand are obvious factors in pricing and our buyers rely on the skill of the loader operators to properly sort the wood to maximize profit for both the landowner and the company.

Once the harvest is underway, the buyer is responsible for monitoring all aspects of the process, especially the operation of the feller-buncher as the operator works along property lines. Buyers meet with all machine operators multiple times during the harvest of a tract to ensure that no damage is being done or that repairs are done when damage does happen. The company maintains equipment such as dozers and motorgraders to create roads, loading decks, and perform maintenance during the harvest operation. In poor conditions a dozer or grader may be left on a site for routine road maintenance which reduces damage to the property that would have to be corrected later.

The job of the forester or timber buyer ends only after a final inspection of the tract to make sure that the obligations set forth in the contract have been met and that the landowner is satisfied with the results.

Professional Foresters and Wood Buyers

• Jeremy Yonce, Jr.
• Chris Proctor
• Mark Swanson
• Robert Tripp

(Left to Right) Jeremy Yonce, Jr.; Chris Proctor; Jennifer Coleman (procurement administrative assistant); Mark Swanson; Robert Tripp

These are our foresters and timber buyers, a truly talented and dedicated group of company representatives:

• Jeremy Yonce, Jr. started work with Log Creek in 2011, where he began his career as a part-time employee while still in high school. Upon graduation, he began as a full-time employee working primarily as a forestry technician. Jeremy’s dedication and hands-on experience has allowed him to become a timber buyer. He also has the responsibility of managing our heavy equipment operations for both pre-harvest and post-harvest site work, insuring that harvest operations can run smoothly and that owners are satisfied with the final look of their property once harvest operations are complete. Jeremy and his wife, Taylor, live in Trenton, SC.
• Chris Proctor attended Spartanburg Methodist College for two years then majored in Forest Management at Horry-Georgetown Tech (1985-86). He was employed with Federal Paperboard and International Paper for 12 years before joining Log Creek Timber Company in 2004. Chris is a lifelong resident of Saluda and has two sons, Drew and Zach who attend school in Saluda.
• Mark Swanson graduated with a BS in Forest Resource Management from Clemson University in 1997 and is a Registered Forester. Since then he has worked in the forest industry and became a Registered Forester in 2000. His work experience includes International Paper Company where he held a position that included duties in land management and sales, procurement, and sawmill wood flow and analytics. His experience also includes Canal Wood where he worked in procurement. Swanson has been a procurement forester for Log Creek Timber since 2007. Mark is married to Yolanda and has two sons, Blake and Leland. The Swanson family lives in North Augusta, SC.
• Robert Tripp holds an Associate degree in Forestry from Horry-Georgetown Tech and received a BS in Forestry from Clemson University in 1996. He has worked in the forest industry since that time and has been with Log Creek Timber Company since 2006 as a procurement forester. Robert is married to Kelly and has one son, Ellis. The Tripp family lives in Norris, SC.