Mike Pihl: The gentleman of Vernonia

By KEN BILDERBACK
Special to mikepihllogging.com
Ask Mike Pihl to talk about himself and you don’t get very far. Instead he wants to boast about his family and his adopted hometown of Vernonia.

Go to Vernonia, on the other hand, and everyone wants to talk about Mike Pihl.

Vernonia is an isolated logging town nestled in the foothills of Oregon’s Coast Range mountains. It’s a beautiful but unpretentious town that lately has seen more than its share of natural disasters. First there was the devastating flood of December 2007 showcased in Season 1 of the “Ax Men.” More recently, the town was cut off from the world by a blizzard during Christmas week 2008.

In times of crisis, one of the first people Vernonia turns to is Mike Pihl.

“Have you heard what Mike did during the emergency?” Vernonia Police Chief Mike Kay asks, talking about the Blizzard of ’08. “Mike spent two full days running around felling trees that were threatening to fall on peoples’ homes, and he didn‘t charge a thing.”

And that, Chief Kay notes, was after Mike had volunteered hours of his time driving around with son-in-law Kelly Baska in front of emergency responders to clear the hundreds of downed trees that blocked  local streets and highways.

You won’t hear that story from Mike Pihl, although you will hear plenty of praise for son-in-law Kelly. Kelly met Mike’s daughter Lindsay in high school. Back then, Kelly would mow Mike’s lawn while Mike was out in the forests.

Today Kelly and Lindsay are married, and both work at Mike Pihl Logging, a tremendous source of pride for Mike. “Kelly has always been level-headed,” Mike says. “Just a hard worker.”

“Kelly’s on salary,” Mike says over a breakfast burrito on a beautiful Saturday morning. “But he’s out there right now in the brush, getting things ready for next week. He doesn’t have to do that, but that’s the kind of guy he is.”

To learn what kind of guy Mike Pihl is, you just have to listen to his legions of friends. They’ll tell you about a young man disabled a couple of years ago in a logging accident. The young man didn’t work for Mike. Mike didn’t owe him a thing. The young man didn’t have insurance or worker’s compensation, but he did have a wife and baby to support.

After the terrible accident, Mike Pihl gave the young man a piece of property on which to build a house. Just gave it to him, no questions asked. Then he helped build that house for the young family. Ask Mike about that and he shrugs and tells you “A lot of people helped.”

Mike quickly changes the subject. He wants to talk about his son Daniel, a United States Marine serving in Iraq. Mike is a big barrel-chested guy, but his chest really swells with pride when he talks about Daniel.

“I’m not bragging,” Mike says, although one suspects he is, “But Daniel became a sniper, then an advanced sniper, all through hard work.”

Separated by thousands of miles, father and son stay connected through identical tattoos on their right arms. “Never Give Up,” the tattoos say.

Back in Vernonia, you learn that “Never Give Up” is more than just a slogan to Mike. Times are tough in Oregon logging communities.

When times were better, Mike Pihl shared his good  fortune with everyone in Vernonia. “A couple of years ago,” Police Chief Kay recalls, “he bought all of the youth football uniforms.”

When the Vernonia police needed a K-9 unit, Mike Pihl helped fund it. When Vernonia needed a community emergency response team, Chief Kay remembers that it was Mike Pihl who helped make it happen.

George Tice of the Buckhorn Restaurant in Vernonia remembers other times Mike Pihl was there for his community.

“A few years ago,” George recalls, “People in the community had questions about West Oregon Electric (the local public utility district). Mike joined the board to help out. Now he’s on the Economic Development Commission. When people have questions,  Mike’s who we go to.”

Of course all that was when times were good. Back when Mike would do his best to help his community. Back when he would walk into Vernonia businesses with his 2-year-old son in tow, proudly wearing identical logger clothing.

Now times are tougher, both for Mike’s logging company and for Vernonia.

But Mike hasn’t given up on the town. Since he was a child growing up in nearby Banks he thought he would someday make Vernonia his home. “It’s a working town,“ he says. “Always has been. I wanted to be a part of that.”

And he continues to be a big part of the town. His friends are protective of him, but as Chief Kay admits, “Even in this downturn he rarely turns down anyone in need.”

George Tice is equally protective. “Right now,” he says, “He just needs to hang on and concentrate on his business.”

Yet George admits, “When something needs to be done, he’s still the first one with a foot in the door …”

Ken Bilderback is a freelance journalist in Gaston, Oregon. After 30 years in the newspaper industry, Ken is enjoying the rural life with his wife, Kris, raising chickens, helping out with the Gaston Fire District and writing on subjects as diverse as history and feline opthamology.