10/21/2025
How incredibly appropriate for AFA to feature Mike Pennington, President of LD Long Logging, Inc. (located in his home community of Monticello) during National Forest Products Week.
Mike has been a mainstay volunteer and leader not only of AFA, but also of ATPA, serving over the years on our board, advancing the goals of our Ark Pro Logger training program, supporting the Log A Load For Kids campaign, and helping to build and sustain through activism and leadership a political and economic climate in which our industry can thrive. He was an early leader in helping AFA expand its landowner education efforts in the 1990s as the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) rolled out nationally, serving on a volunteer advisory board that shaped a seed-grant supported pilot effort.
We recall one of Mike's under-the-radar contributions years ago when he helped coordinate a Log A Load For Kids fundraising dinner and auction at one of our first In-Woods-Expos held in Hot Springs. Hundreds of people walked through the doors who had not pre-registered, hungry and ready to eat, and ready to make donations to our industry's flagship philanthropic efforts that benefit so many of our families.
Mike helped us feed the masses that evening by locating extra areas we could set up tables, and providing much-needed humor and steadiness in chaos. Mike is always present, giving it his all, and helping our respective associations serve our memberships and the sector at-large.
Congratulations, Mike, and thank you for your ongoing contributions and service. Well done!
Forest Products Week day 2 is upon us and today we are introducing to you Mike Pennington, our Lifetime Achievement winner at this year's annual meeting.
Mike Pennington is the president of L.D. Long Logging, Inc., located in Monticello. He is a lifelong resident of Monticello, studied at the University of Arkansas – Monticello, and has spent his career working in the timber and forest products industry.
In addition to being a consummate professional in the logging sector, Mike is an avid supporter of the community. He has served on the Drew County School Board for more than three decades, is active in the Arkansas Timber Producers Association, Arkansas Forestry Association and Drew County Farm Bureau.
He is an enthusiastic supporter of the Arkansas Log a Load for Kids program, and a founding member of the Drew County Log a Load chapter. Mike was recognized in 2017 as the Log a Load for Kids Volunteer of the Year and in 2022 was honored as the Monticello Man of the Year.
