Sonny Bex, Saul Bex, Bob Bauer, executive Director of Kentucky Forest Industries Association, and John Reinstetle with University of Kentucky Robinson Forest.
B & B Logging was created in the early 1960s when Rufus ‘Sonny” Bex struck out on his own at age 15 to work on logging crews throughout Oregon, Washington, and California.
After turning 20 he started his career as a pipeline welder which lasted until an injury in 1993. In 1994 he and his son, Saul formed B & B Logging which has served as a model of sustainable forestry and superior landowner service to this day. Their selective harvest methods not only follow all Kentucky environmental regulations, they also fully support sustainable forestry.
Logging operations in Kentucky range from a guy in a pick-up truck to large multi-crew companies from out-of-state mills. Each level of this spectrum presents certain advantages and disadvantages to Kentucky landowners interested in selling their timber. The local man with the pick-up truck might be known and trusted by the landowner, but lacks the adequate equipment and contacts to efficiently conduct a harvest and ensure the landowner with a competitive return on their timber. The large company with its giant machines and multiple crews can rip the timber from the ground quickly, offer an up-front payment, but show little regard for the landscape forever altered by their heavy disturbance and non-sustainable harvesting methods.
In the middle of this logger buffet is the Bex family, B&B Logging. They are locally known and trusted in many counties, have the proper equipment to conduct an efficient, timely harvest with low environmental impact, possess the knowledge and contacts to deliver a top dollar return, focus on sustainable forestry and individual landowner goals.
The Bex family routinely logs the same properties multiple times within a single decade. Their selective, low-impact harvests are synchronized with market value for species, landowner goals, wildlife concerns, intelligent stewardship, and adherence to all environmental regulations. At the core of B&B’s success and value is integrity and humility. No job is too small for their attention and they frequently help struggling landowners convert storm damaged and hazard trees into dollars where other companies would charge them thousands to remove the same trees.
Another way to appreciate B&B’s contributions to their communities is to visit any of the schools, courthouses, community centers, retirement facilities, public parks, and libraries throughout Bracken, Pendleton, Campbell, Boone, Kenton, Harrison, and Grant counties. Generally, without recognition, B&B Logging has provided free seedlings and burlap trees for local Arbor Day events, school programs, and community reforestation effort for the past 25 years. A large percentage of the beautiful trees growing at these locations were donated by B&B. This reforestation and urban forestry effort of B&B is consistent with their commitment to sustainable forestry and desire to ensure future generations are able to enjoy Kentucky’s healthy forest ecosystems.
On April 7, B & B Logging received the 2020 Kentucky Logger of the Year Award, presented by the Kentucky Tree Farm Committee and Kentucky Forest Industries Association, Inc.
B & B Logging is operated by Saul Bex who can be reached at 859-322-5126.
