4 | BANGOR DAILY NEWS | Friday | October 21, 2011
“Hub of Hardwood” represents Maine innovation in Passadumkeag By David M. Fitzpatrick CUSTOM PUBLICATIONS WRITER
American Forest Management is one of the largest such firms in the U.S., managing 4.5 million acres of private timberland with offices in 15 states. One office is in Passadumkeag, co-located with Madden Timberlands, the firm that handles and cuts AFM’s logs. And there are a lot of logs. The site, a sprawling landscape with towering stacks of hardwood, is on the site of the former Diamond Occidental stud mill; only one building remains, along with old foundations, but there’s plenty of activity there. “If you added what came in and came out every day, we probably handle 100,000 cord of wood that actually comes through here,” said owner Scott Madden. The yard is a central hub for AFM’s hardwood in Maine. Trucks bring wood from former Champi-
on, James River, and International Paper lands for processing, from across Maine and even some from New Hampshire. Madden handles about 27 grades of various hardwoods, and AFM ships it as far away as China. Plenty of it stays here, though. Madden pointed out a stack of cut ash destined for Peavey Manufacturing in Eddington, where it will become legendary Peavey logging tools. Between the Passadumkeag operation and the cutting he does in the woods around Maine, Madden employs 33, plus about 15 subcontractors. At the processing facility, they cut with specialized equipment, stack the logs cut to ordered lengths, and ship them out. The company has a less than 1 percent wood loss and shoots for less than that, reclaiming everything from sawdust, bark, and log ends, which all find use. Hardwood can be at a serious premium, and people are willing See MADDEN, Page 5
BDN PHOTO BY DAVID M. FITZPATRICK
Using a remote control, Scott Madden, owner of Madden Timberlands, moves a custom machine he and his crew created. The combination of a crane and an old grapple skidder has resulted in a crane that moves easily through any terrain, picks up logs, and cuts them.