Jackman Lumber

was gonna build his own sawmills again, but it never happened and it stayed logging and trucking.”

It still is today.

Back in the 1980s when Russ started full time with the company, Jackman Lumber was running traditional hand crews and cable skidders in the woods. The first step in the move to mechanized logging came when the company added stroke delimbers so the crews could fell the trees but leave the limbing portion of the work to the delimbers on the landings. Over time feller bunchers and grapple skidders were added to make the company fully mechanized.

“We only cut softwood in the 80s, and then in the early 90s we worked with ProPac to build the first hardwood delimbers, we had the prototype and we worked with them on building that and it went on to be a pretty successful thing and they’re still making them today,” Russ said. “So I figure we pioneered the hardwood delimbing with stroke delimbers, but now I’ve converted to a cut to length system, we’ve been cut to length for almost 10 years. We’ve moved more to smaller wood, and I think it works better with the smaller wood.”

The size of the company has changed a lot over the years. At its peak in the late 1990s the company had about 50 employees. There were six feller buncher crews and more than 20 trucks. Like most logging contractors in Maine, Jackman Lumber met big challenges in the next two decades with market changes, rising costs, and closing mills, and in response the company downsized repeatedly.

Today Jackman Lumber has gone as small as it can, down to a five-man crew. The crew includes two truck drivers, himself running a processor, one man in the garage, and his long-time feller buncher and forwarder operator and mechanic, Ed Griffin - no relation, “he keeps our stuff running,” Russ said. Jackman Lumber has three trucks; a Peterbilt, a Western Star, and an International. The company does its own low bedding and also hauls for

Jackman Lumber Continued from Page 11 other companies in the area. In the woods, Jackman Lumber operates a CAT 511 processor, A John Deere 753 feller buncher, and a CAT 564 forwarder. It also has an excavator, dump truck, and three log cranes. The company once had two chippers, but the chip market has largely disappeared. The company also used to travel to more distant jobs, but these days works primarily within an hour of Jackman.

“I have a saying, I’ll work from here to tidewater,” Russ said. “I’ve worked quite a bit in Frankfort, Winterport, Levant, I’ve cut quite a bit on some of our family land in Levant, and I own a lot in Frankfort and Liberty, so I’ve traveled around quite a bit.”

For the past five years, Jackman Lumber has worked about half the time on Weyerhauser lands and the other half on private lots. Their primary markets for wood are the Moose River Lumber mill which is less than a mile from their shop, and the Sappi Somerset Mill in Skowhegan, 75 miles down Route 201.

Reginald Griffin died in 2014 after a long and respected career in the woods, but Russ’s mother Linda remains involved with Jackman Lumber to this day, overseeing the books and remaining a part owner of the company.

Linda Griffin built Jackman Lumber with her husband and both were leaders in Maine’s forest products industry over the years. Linda is a Past President of the Maine Forest Products Council. Russ said that over time the Griffins came to feel that loggers needed their own organization to better meet their needs and fight for their interests, and so when the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine (PLC) came along and begin to fill that role, Jackman Lumber joined the PLC. The company is also Master Logger certified.

“I think it’s become a very good thing,” Russ said, noting the PLC’s advocacy for loggers in Augusta, its focus on safety and professionalism, and its work to inform and educate the public on the logging industry. “I’ve been pretty happy with the organization.”

Speaking out for the industry is something Russ is known for. He has a small but devoted following on Facebook for his regular “Stump Report” where he offers blunt commentary on many issues of importance to loggers and other small businesses in Maine’s forest economy. With some of the viewers including lawmakers in Augusta, it is not unheard of for an issue or viewpoint Russ shares to make its way into legislative discussions.

One of the most important issues to Russ is preservation of the longstanding tradition in Maine of keeping forests open to hunting and fishing and other recreation by maintaining their status as working woodlands - a viewpoint shared and championed by the PLC.

“The biggest concern I have is the evaporating land base. I think over time as loggers we kind of did our own thing and we didn’t say much and now I’m seeing the movement of the environmental groups buying up the land bases we depend on and I’ve become very vocal about it,” Russ said. “We’re not going to have a land base to operate on anymore if we don’t try to combat this somehow and discourage landowners from selling to environmental groups that are basically locking up land forever. Its dealing a blow to the people of Maine that don’t really deserve it.”

For Jackman Lumber, logging is what pays the bills but Russ has long enjoyed the trucking side of the business and sees growth potential for his company there given the strong demand for trucking, so he is already hauling for other companies and hopes to do more in the future.

“I’m determined to make my trucking successful,” Russ said. “I think there’s some future in it because there’s a need.”

While recent years have been rough ones in Maine’s logging industry, Russ said he is encouraged by mills beginning to make a comeback in the state after years of closings. Overall logging capacity has shrunk as logging contractors shut down in response to reduced markets, and now he believes that as demand rises those contractors who are still standing will be well positioned to capitalize on that demand.

“Anyone that’s still standing today is a tough son of a gun,” Russ said. “I do still really enjoy it other than the winters are starting to be really painful - that’s age I guess, but I’m gonna stick with what I know to the end.”

Doran Continued from Page 9 16 state’s wood products businesses, attract capital investments, and develop greater economic prosperity for communities impacted by recent mill closures has announced an action plan to grow Maine’s forest economy from the current $8.5 billion (annual) to $12 billion by 2025. This growth would position the state to compete in and take advantage of substantial global market opportunities with much of the projected 40 percent growth coming from new markets for the state. Such growth would also require a significant expansion of the logging and log trucking workforce in Maine.

Key findings of the employment availability and wage study include:

· Although capital expenses in the logging industry have risen across the board, rates for wood harvesting and trucking have not.

· Recently announced expansions increasing demand for wood will require an additional 100 jobs in the logging industry in the immediate future. In addition, occupation projections suggest upwards of 200workersper year will need to be replaced over the next 8-10 years due to an aging logger workforce.

· Business critical occupations in the logging industry, including equipment operators and truck drivers which comprise 2 out of every 3 jobs, currently earn relative wages well below comparable occupations in other industries, making itdifficult to recruit and attract workers. Logging equipment operators ranked lowest for wages out of 19 comparable skilled occupations surveyed, while logging truck drivers ranked second to last for wages out of 14 heavy truck driving sectors.

· The average earnings for all employment in Maine’s logging industry have increased by 5% since 2010, an average increase of just over $2,100 per worker compared to an average increase of $5,500 in comparative industries, such as construction, wood manufacturing, and pulp and paper manufacturing.

· Over 400 workers in the industry are at retirement age (65+), while an additional 850 workers will be reaching retirement age within the next 10 years. Attracting younger generations of workers will be criticalin replacing the retiring workforce.

All of this data and the findings of this report brings me back to a discussion point I mentioned in my last article in January and one that needs to be revisited. Contractors own and operate businesses with the intent to earn a return; they are not in business to subsidize the financial returns of their customers. During a time of high prices for lumber markets and increasing pulp demand, far too many contractors in Maine are running on borrowed time. Despite some price creep and increased demand for wood, a majority of contractors are still reporting much lower profit margins. And when it comes to cost savings in the supply chain, loggers have nothing left to give. Any business that does not earn a return, closes down. It’s that simple.

Back in January, I was reading the blog of a management company who will remain nameless. In that article, the author discussed a recent timber sale negotiation that they conducted with a landowner. The management company took great pride in the fact that they competed against a logger to earn the sale and boasted that they could provide more value to the landowner as a service provider, could hire a logger to work for them and at the end of the day would provide a greater financial return to the landowner than if they contracted directly with the logger. Furthermore, the logger really wasn’t trustworthy, and it was absolutely necessary for the landowner to have an intermediary involved as a result of this trust. Wow!! Not only was I angered to hear this kind of double talk, but I found this to be exactly what is wrong with the system that contractors operate in today.

Can you imagine what backlash the logger would feel if they publicly scrutinized a management company this way?

I guess all is fair in competitive business, but is this really the kind of environment we want the landowner community to be subjected to? Further, this is also exactly why contractors can barely afford to stay in business. We have a system in place that encourages the control, manipulation and degradation of the logger at the logger’s expense. No wonder loggers cannot hire good people and pay them a living wage when those who exert control use profit as a four-letter word and try to use scare tactics against them.

To use an analogy, do architects use these same tactics when working with property owners? Do they scare the property owner and tell them they cannot trust their building contractor? Do engineers use these tactics in similar circumstances when competing against plumbers and HVAC professionals? I have a feeling it is a violation of their license and their professional code of ethics. So, if this is the case in those professions, shouldn’t it be the same in this business?

I bring up this example because I’m hearing stories like this more and more as the competition for wood increases. Loggers can compete with anyone, but the playing field should be equalized and there should be a better level of respect at this point in time because there isn’t, “just another logger out there that can take the job.”

We hear all the time that this is a supposed to be a three-legged stool and the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Well, the stool is broken and if it’s going to stand, it has to stand on its own. If one leg is going to push the other one down or continues to try to make one leg stronger than the other, the stool will ultimately fall.

As you start to unwind this spring and look at your business, please take a look at the study we just released and see how it compares to your business. If the data is similar and you don’t see things changing, don’t hesitate to refer to this in your discussions moving forward. In the end, loggers are the root of the industry and must speak with one voice. Now might be the time to use it.