‘America’s Forests with Chuck Leavell’ will feature MEMIC tree felling trainer Barrett Parks

(Greenville, ME) – A MEMIC forest operations safety consultant will participate in the 27th Annual Game of Logging on Saturday as part of Forest Heritage Days, a celebration of Maine’s logging history.

Barrett Parks, of Woodland, Maine, will demonstrate advanced tree felling techniques in a segment that will be broadcast on a future episode of “America’s Forests with Chuck Leavell” on PBS.

Parks, who grew up cutting firewood on the family lot in central Maine, says he “never outgrew my Tonka toys. I just got bigger ones.”

“America’s Forests with Chuck Leavell” is a PBS series that brings stories of sustainable forestry to the public. Leavell, the show’s colorful creator and host, plays keyboards for the Rolling Stones and learned the importance of sustainable forestry after his wife inherited a 1,000-acre forest from a German billionaire. The show documents Leavell as he travels the country to experience the different ways Americans use and connect with forests in their states.

By reforming the state’s workers’ compensation system in the 1990s, MEMIC is widely credited with helping save Maine’s forest products industry, which was being crushed under the burden of costly, preventable injuries. 

“It’s great to see the Maine logging industry being celebrated nationally,” MEMIC Group President & CEO Michael P. Bourque said. “That this popular PBS show chose to come to Forest Heritage Days and watch Barrett demonstrate safe tree felling shows that dedication to safety, along with new technologies and attention to best practices, has put Maine logging back on a sustainable path.” 

Parks, who has consulted with MEMIC policyholders on logging safety for the past five years, earned his Certified Logging Professional (CLP) status in 2001 and has provided expert advice to the Certified Logging Professional program, Professional Loggers Council of Maine, and other forest industry organizations. He lives in Woodland, Maine, with his wife and three children.


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About MEMIC
The MEMIC Group includes MEMIC Indemnity Company, MEMIC Casualty Company, and parent company Maine Employers’ Mutual Insurance Company; all rated “A” (Excellent) by A.M. Best. The MEMIC Group holds licenses to write workers’ compensation across the entire country. The group insures and serves more than 20,000 employers and their estimated 300,000 employees with dedicated safety and injury management service teams from Maine to Florida.

Photo above, MEMIC Forest Operations Safety Consultant Barrett Parks (left) discusses tree felling safety techniques with Chuck Leavell at the Game of Logging event in Greenville, Maine, Aug. 12, 2023. Parks, of Woodland, Maine, filmed advanced tree felling techniques in a segment that will be broadcast on a future episode of “America’s Forests with Chuck Leavell” on PBS.