In 1942, Charles Barge was offered about 51,000 acres of cut timberland running through Noxubee and Winston counties.
With the forest cut clean by a company that didn’t yet know the principles of sustainable forestry, Barge turned all his efforts toward regrowing the timber.
Barge didn’t know at the time his decision to regrow the forest would anchor his family for generations, building the Barge family’s legacy on two fronts: the Barge Forest Products timber company, which supplies lumber across the globe, and Lake Forest Ranch, a Christian summer camp and retreat center that has shaped thousands of children and families for 75 years.
Over the past eight decades, a single philosophy has guided the family’s success.
“The No. 1 thing that marks the family out is our commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that’s in our business, and it’s in the camp,” said David Barge, president of Barge Forest Products Co. and grandson to Charles Barge. “… We look at it as though we are stewards of what God has given us, and we manage it for his glory, not for ours. He’s blessed us greatly, and that’s how we look at it.”
Barge Forest Products, along with members of the family, still own all of the acreage, which is set to provide about 70% of the timber the company will process this year, mostly for one-inch boards, the company’s bread and butter, as well as high-grade rough lumber for export.
Managing that acreage means more than planting and waiting. David said the company is currently working toward a 50-year rotation plan – shorter than the current 80-year rotation, but longer than the standard for larger companies – to keep the forest productive.
To do that, the company thins smaller, less developed trees, leaving more room for others to mature. The approach over time allows the timberland to recover from being cut while also producing stronger, higher-quality timer with fewer rings per inch than competitors.
“We think that we have the highest-grade lumber of any manufacturer, and most of our buyers, most of our customers would agree,” David said.
International exports currently make up around 30 to 35% of the company’s business now, with Europe, North Africa and the Caribbean making up the largest markets.
Generations of a successful family business have come with challenges, David said.
In the 60s and 70s, the timberland was plagued by southern pine beetle epidemics due to overcrowding, which weakens the ability of trees to repel the beetle.
Fortunately, a contract with American Can Company, now Georgia Pacific, to thin pulpwood – smaller trees that are processed into wood pulp used to make paper products – from the land created a new market for the company and laid the foundation for a healthier forest.
“He entered into what amounted to a 10-year contract, and we had pulp-wooders everywhere, and we were cutting all this pulpwood, and it changed the forest,” David said. “That’s what made the forest what it is today because we were able to thin for 10 years.”
Recently, the company has struggled to find consistent markets for pulpwood from the forest. But those tables are set to turn as well once the biocarbon facility at Aluminium Dynamics in Lowndes County and Huber Engineered Woods’ planned oriented strand board facility slated for Noxubee County are finished.
“Both of those are going to take more than a million tons a year of pulpwood,” David said. “… So we’ll finally have a market for our pulpwood. It will change us entirely.”
The Ranch
David’s father, Richard Barge, took over the company after Charles passed away, managing the timberland, which are now named for him, for 50 years. Richard also took up his father’s second endeavor, Lake Forest Ranch.
Founded in 1950 by Charles and his wife, Bonnie Barge, as a place to bring youth primarily from the Jackson area, Lake Forest Ranch is a Christian summer camp and retreat located in Macon.
“Our motto is ‘Building relationships for eternal impact,’ and that’s what we do,” said Board of Directors Chair Steve Morris, a former camp director and cousin to David. “In the summertime, we run a full program – 10 camps, about 10,000 campers spread out over those 10 weeks. It’s all about their relationship with Jesus Christ.”
The camp consists of 20 cabins for campers, more for adults, a full year-round staff and a summertime staff along with year round availability to rent the camp for retreats.
What started as a small weekend getaway for teenagers has grown into a multi-age program hosting thousands from across the country, primarily from Southeastern states, though Morris would like to see more local interest.
“We hear just about every year from people we haven’t heard from for 30 or 40 years (saying) ‘I was saved at Lake Forest Ranch,’ or ‘My grandkids go to Lake Forest now,’ from as far away as Indianapolis, Indiana to of course nearby,” Morris said.
The success of both the camp and the timber company, David said, is driven by the family’s active involvement in both endeavors, a commitment he hopes to see sustained for decades to come.
“They’re all sold out on this, and many of them are also directors on the Lake Forest Ranch board and most of them have worked at Lake Forest Ranch,” David said of other Barge family members, including additional generations. “So I’ve tried to instill in them, the companies and train them on how the companies operate, and they’re involved.”
STORY BY EMMA MCRAE
PHOTOS BY DEANNA ROBINSON