A lot has changed since Forestry Journal’s early days, but one thing has remained – our commitment to the industry. As we celebrate a historic 30th year, we’re taking a look back at how the magazine and the sector have evolved during the last three decades.
WHEN Forestry Journal – then Forest Machine Journal – was first launched, it promised to provide the industry with the dedicated coverage it deserved. Now, as the title celebrates its 30th year, we’d like to think we have lived up to that promise.
Over the course of the last three decades, the UK’s leading forestry publication has evolved as the sector has with it, rising to meet the changing demands placed on Britain’s woodlands and the people who spend their lives in them.
At its autumn 1994 launch, the magazine hailed itself as the ‘The ONLY British Magazine devoted to Forest Machinery!’, and while that is no longer the case (testament to the strong example set forth by FMJ?) the title has grown to encompass so much more.
Flick through any edition from the last half-decade or so, and you’ll find features on foresters, tree planters, nurserymen, shelters, deer management, and forestry-related politics, to name but a few of the topics now embraced by FJ. Machinery is still – and always will be – a central part of what we do.
An ever-evolving title
Forestry Journal’s covers have always been available to advertisers and the first issue was no exception, promoting the Hemek Ciceron TD81 forwarder, then sold by the Machine Shop. Since its acquisition by Tigercat in 2000, Hemek branded products have faded from the marketplace. That first issue’s cover also highlighted a special feature on the APF and a report on new forwarders available in the UK on the pages within. And that is the formula subsequent covers followed, as issues were published sporadically before settling into a monthly print schedule.
Our first-ever edition from when the magazine launched in 1994 as Forest Machine Journal. (Image: FJ)
Flash forward 10 years to 2004 and, while the format hadn’t changed much, it had changed. The month and year of the issue had been added to the top right and the ‘ONLY British Magazine …’ claim was gone, making room to promote the fact that the magazine was now incorporating FCA News (effectively a page of info from the FCA, including the chairman’s report) and Arb & Amenity Matters (between four and six pages of arboriculture content which would eventually be superseded by the addition of FJ’s sister title essentialARB).
By 2006, this had been pruned back to ‘Incorporating Arb & Amenity Matters’. Then, in January of 2008, came a big change. “Welcome to your first edition of Forestry Journal,” said the editorial. The magazine had changed its name and, following months of negotiation, was taking over the industry’s other big publication, Forestry & British Timber.
Logset took the cover spot on the first issue of Forestry Journal in its new guise, promoting its new Titan forwarders. By June 2008, the magazine’s covers had ceased advertising the fact it now incorporated Forestry & British Timber and Arb & Amenity Matters. Then, in December, came one more tweak, when the title received an upgrade to a shiny new CGI-style font. This font endured for several years, through multiple colours and variations, until it finally had its last outing in April 2017.
Our November 2014 issues shows how the magazine had evolved (Image: FJ)
This was to be the first major design revamp of the magazine since its launch in 1994, and in May, readers finally saw the results.
The May 2017 cover introduced the now-familiar white lettering on a black banner (occasionally alternating colours) with our pine tree logo and slogan, ‘COMMITTED TO SUPPORTING THE FORESTRY INDUSTRY SINCE 1994’.
In the half-decade since, we have made some minor changes inside the magazine to freshen it up, but it very much remains the Forestry Journal you’ve known and loved for 30 years.
Then the world stopped
Those of you who were there as we marked FJ’s 25th birthday in 2019 probably couldn’t have predicted the events of the very next year.
In March 2020, the world stopped as the COVID virus wreaked havoc, forcing machines, events, and everyone involved in forestry to grind to a halt.
While machinery has changed in forestry during the last 30 years, FJ's commitment to it has not (Image: FJ archive)
For a publication that relies on getting out to meet people face to face, this posed severe challenges (as it did in every industry). Zoom calls became the norm and features that had been squirrelled away for a rainy day finally had their moment. If there was a silver lining, it was that demand for wood hit unprecedented levels as the public – stuck at home – finally got round to those projects they had put on hold.
Mercifully, the pandemic is an increasingly distant memory, one which forestry managed to navigate through.
But despite the difficulties of the first part of this last half-decade, the magazine has continued to thrive, shining a light on the best of forestry.
2023 saw the launch of our Women in Forestry series, which provides a space for exactly that; women working in forestry at every level. Forestry and Land Scotland’s (FLS) Victoria Potts was first up, saying: “I really enjoy becoming good at something I never thought I’d be good at.” She is just one of many female foresters to adorn our pages during the last five years, reflecting how the industry has evolved since FJ’s launch.
Other stand-out individuals featured during this last half-decade include Cara Johnstone, one of the UK’s only female operators, John Deere Forestry’s retiring service manager Billy Telfer, and Jim Christie, the brains behind the first-ever Forestry Harvesting Demo in 2011.
Innovation has very much remained at the heart of forestry, with recent notable machines including Komatsu’s Centipede forwarder concept, Ponsse’s EV1 prototype, and Husqvarna’s 542i XP and T542i XP, the first battery-powered chainsaws with a clutch.
FJ's August 2024 front cover, which demonstrates its fresh look that was introduced in 2017 (Image: FJ)
A lot has changed in forestry during the last 30 years. Where will we be another three decades down the line?
More than just a magazine
While the print magazine has evolved through the years, so has the title as a whole, incorporating a website, weekly newsletters, social media pages, and a YouTube channel.
Videos like our 2023 interview with Cara Johnstone are now a key part of FJ's offering
What may have been unthinkable to our predecessors back in 1994 is just the norm for FJ now.
To celebrate Forestry Journal’s 30th anniversary, we have launched a special subscription deal. For just £30, you can have six editions of the print magazine delivered straight to your door. Or you can get a whole year’s access to the premium features and articles on our website for the same price.
Call 0141 302 7718 or visit www.forestryjournal.co.uk/subscribe.
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