Stoken Logging Timber Roots

by Tim McEntire

Nestled in the upper reaches of the Tobacco Valley, Eureka, Montana, has always been a timber town. Long before high-efficiency feller-bunchers and high-capacity log loaders worked the mountainsides, the region’s economic lifeblood flowed down the Kootenai River on log drives and rolled out on Great Northern railcars. Following the decline of the early 20th-century sawmills, the area adapted, famously earning the nickname the "Christmas Tree Capital of the World" by the mid-1900s. Millions of wild Douglas firs were harvested by hand across Lincoln County, providing a tough, seasonal living that taught local families how to make a living off the land.

It was out of this hardscrabble, timber-rich environment that modern Tobacco Valley logging was born.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Among the names carved deepest into the region’s history is Stoken Logging, Inc. Based out of Eureka, the company stands as proof of what happens when you combine an unrelenting work ethic with a refusal to stay stuck in the past. But unlike legacy outfits handed down through generations, Stoken Logging was built from scratch by identical twin brothers: Pat and Mike Stoken. Through the foundation laid by Pat and Mike, and now carried forward by two more generations of Stokens, their timber roots remain firmly planted in the Montana dirt.

The Stoken footprint in the Tobacco Valley traces back to a modest family ranch on land originally homesteaded by Joe Stoken in 1919. Pat and Mike’s first real taste of forestry came as boys, working side-by-side with their father cutting Christmas trees in those cold Montana falls. It was freezing, hand-blistering work, but it set the foundation for everything that followed.

By their teenage years, the brothers were logging during summer breaks. Immediately after graduating high school in 1972, the 18-year-old twins went straight into the brush full-time. They weren't interested in just pulling levers for someone else—they had an eye for production and a clear plan.

In 1978, the brothers took the leap and officially founded Stoken Logging. In those days, starting an independent contracting outfit was a massive gamble. The timber industry was heading into intense economic volatility. But not only did the Stokens stay afloat; they built one of the most reliable contract logging operations in the state.

When the Stokens started out, it was a traditional hand-falling operation. Crews went into the brush every morning armed with chainsaws, relying on cable skidders to drag wood to the landings. But Pat and Mike were pragmatic. They recognized early on that survival in modern logging meant mechanizing before the market forced their hand.

Stoken Logging became one of the early adopters of heavy timber technology in the region. They were among the first in Northwest Montana to move away from hand-falling, bringing in slide-boom delimbers and Timbco feller bunchers. The move boosted daily production and drastically improved crew safety in steep, dangerous terrain.

That willingness to invest in iron never slowed down. Today, Stoken Logging runs high-production fleets featuring Cat, TimberPro, and Log Max equipment. Through decades of changing timber sales and mill specs, the company expanded to run multiple tree-length and cut-to-length crews, moving major volume for landholders including Plum Creek, Weyerhaeuser, private landowners, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC), and the U.S. Forest Service.  Operations have grown over the years, expanding to a shop based out of Kalispell and the Ksanka mill site.

Logging doesn’t allow much spare time, but with the little it does allow, the Stokens pursued another passion. Swapping his logger's boots for a fire suit, Pat, alongside his sons Cory and Casey, established a high-caliber team on the national drag racing circuit. With Cory and Casey working as the pit crew—tuning complex nitrous and chassis setups—Pat got behind the wheel of his bright red 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Pro Mod. With Pat’s wife, Terrie, keeping the operation organized, the family became a serious presence in the West Coast Pro Mod Association and the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA).

In June 2015, at the PDRA Summer Drags in Martin, Michigan, Pat made history. He became the first driver in PDRA Pro Nitrous history to break the 3.70-second barrier in the eighth-mile, clocking a 3.69-second run at 201.07 mph.

The link between the pit lane and the landing is simple. Both require high-horsepower machinery, tight crew coordination, and zero room for error under pressure. Tuning a 900-horsepower nitrous engine isn't all that different from keeping a harvester head running through a sub-zero Montana winter—it takes precision and a working knowledge of your gear.

The working partnership between Pat and his late twin brother Mike, who passed away in 2019, was the engine behind Stoken Logging for over four decades. Running a large-scale logging operation can strain any partnership, but the Stoken twins stood shoulder-to-shoulder through market downturns, regulatory changes, and rough winters. Mike’s "Rockstar" legacy remains part of the company's identity with every load that rolls out of the landing.

Logging is notorious for long hours and high stress, but Pat and Mike built an outfit where family isn't sidelined—it runs the show. Walk onto a Stoken job site today, and you’ll find the next generations keeping the iron moving. Pat’s sons, Cory and Casey, along with his grandsons, are actively running key parts of the business, proving that the work ethic forged on Joe Stoken’s homestead over a century ago is still very much alive.

And for the crew members who don't share the Stoken surname, the standard is the same: treat your crew right, fix problems fast, and keep people working safely. That approach is why Stoken Logging has held onto top-tier operators for decades.

Behind the scenes, Terrie Stoken—Pat’s wife of over 50 years—has been the operational anchor, managing the business end and keeping the family grounded through decades of shifting timber markets and racing schedules.

Pat Stoken’s reputation as a logger is tied directly to his work off the landing. He’s spent decades pushing back against bureaucratic gridlock that stalls active management in Montana’s forests.

Pat is a familiar face at public hearings and agency meetings, working directly with the DNRC and the USFS to advocate for common-sense forestry. Whether the topic is wildfire mitigation, timber sale visibility, or stewardship contracting, Pat’s focus has always been straightforward: get real work done on the ground, manage the fuel loads, and keep local mills running so timber communities can survive.

Seeing the advantages of collaboration with like-minded associations, Stoken Logging is an active member of the American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) and actively attends monitoring meetings to keep accountability at the forefront. As active, long-standing members of the Montana Loggers Association, Stoken Logging demonstrates what it takes to stay viable in modern forestry: adaptability, heavy iron, solid family backing, and a clear understanding of the woods.

From early ranching days to the foundation built by Pat and Mike, down through Cory and Casey and onto the grandsons working the woods today, Stoken Logging stands as a blueprint for family survival in modern timber. Their timber roots are deeply planted, ensuring that no matter how the markets change or how machinery evolves, the Stoken name will remain synonymous with Montana logging for decades to come.