The Logger's VOICE - Fall 2020

A Quarterly Publication of the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine

From the President

By Tony Madden

Hello everyone,

I hope you and your families are healthy. I know the logging business is not healthy, low grade wood products have been very slow this summer and because of COVID-19, these markets may not recover for quite a while. Maine loggers are a resilient group and we will get through this. Let’s hope for a better fall and winter season.

I am excited and proud to lead the PLC over the next two years as your new President. I want to thank Jimmy Nicols for his excellent leadership the past two and a half years, especially the last six months leading our association though these difficult times. I would also like to thank Jimmy for his long term enthusiasm and vision for our industry: 23 years ago Jimmy became the 2nd President of the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine and he has been an important member of the organization and a leader since the very beginning.

I cannot lead in a vacuum and hope that all of our members will get involved with the PLC wherever they can. Please communicate as often as possible with me or with Dana to ensure this organization is representing your company and doing all it can to help you at every turn.

With the leadership of the PLC and Donald Burr, we will continue to expand our excellent safety and training programs and loggers should take advantage of the online training options we have created to help save you money and create efficiencies. Donald Burr is also available for free safety consultation with PLC members.

The 2020 COVID-19 virus has made life extremely difficult for the world’s population. I thought that Maine loggers would be ok as society still needs paper products and building materials and because of the nature of our business it’s easy for loggers and truck drivers to social distance, as a of matter fact many loggers prefer social distancing! But because of the worldwide economic slowdown and the Pixellle mill digester explosion, Maine loggers are struggling, probably more so than I have ever seen in my 40 year career. As a rule I am opposed to government help but, Maine loggers need help now and without market recovery and expansion, I'm not sure there is another path forward!

I want to thank Senator Collins for her work on the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) and the entire Maine Congressional Delegation for taking the lead on the Loggers Relief Act. The PPP program allowed logging contractors and truckers to keep employees paid at a time when we had little or no income coming in. This was a lifeline, but it might not be enough to keep all of us around to see brighter days. We look forward to working with all of our state and federal representatives to get through this unprecedented time and hopefully something will be done by Congress and the Trump Administration to help this fall. Please do not hesitate to contact any member of our Delegation and see how they can help.

I encourage all of our members to use the PLC as a resource during this unprecedented time and if there is anything we can do, please do not hesitate to let us know.

Good Luck and Be Safe!

Tony

Welcome New Members

River's Edge Logging and Land Clearing LLC of Sebago, ME joined the PLC as a new Contractor Member inAugust of 2020. The company has a professional staff of 1. For more information contact Trevor Chaplin at 207-595-0406 or email riversedgelogging@gmail.com

Kimball Logging and Firewood of Poland, ME joined the PLC as a newAffiliated Contractor Member inAugust of 2020. The company is Master Logger certified and has a professional staff of 1. For more information contact Ronald Kimball at 207-998-2751 or email timberball@aol.com

Bandit Industries of Michigan joined the PLC as a new Supporting Member in July of 2020. Founded in 1983 with six employees, Bandit

today employs over 400 people in over 280,000 square feet of manufacturing space, serving 56 countries with over 50 different models of hand-fed chippers, stump grinders, whole tree chippers, The Beast horizontal grinders, track carriers and skid steer attachments. For more information contact Kylee Theisen at 989-561-2270 or email ktheisen@banditchippers

Quality Saw Sales & Service of Dover-Foxcroft joined the PLC as a new Supporting Member in June of 2020. The company is a retail & service business that specializes in the sales, sharpening and repairing of saw blades and miscellaneous related items. For more information contact Jason Brochu at 207-7326666 or email jason@pleasantriverlumber.com

The Year or More in Review (Belated)

By Dana Doran

Each year at our Annual Meeting, I provide an overview of the prior twelve months in terms of the organization and all that has transpired. Since our annual meeting was postponed back in late April and rescheduled for October 16th, 2020, I decided that it was still important to review what the PLC has done since the last time the full membership convened even though it has been more like 18 months instead of 12. As 2020 grinds along, this review in my mind is a good thing because not only does it help provide positive perspective, but it also documents what has been accomplished despite very trying circumstances.

As most are well aware, 2019-20 has been one for the ages and can only be described as a bit like Jekyll and Hyde. Since we last got together as a full membership in Oxford (April 2019), the last half of 2019 and the winter of 2020 showed

signs of a strong recovery. While the weather was not completely cooperative, there were positive signs throughout the industry as all markets, except for biomass, were wide open for sales. However, while confidence grew and most of the membership noted that they had one of their best winters in a long time, the bottom fell out almost overnight starting in late February and it hasn’t gotten any better since. The rearview mirror is now foggy, and most are looking for an exit to take a breather or shed some weight before moving forward.

The majority of 2020 has been the most challenging and unprecedented year in the history of our state, and it is not over yet. The organization has been relatively stable, but it’s plans for growth and expansion have been curbed a bit as a result of the pandemic. That said, this pales in

From the Executive Director

comparison to the struggles that PLC members have experienced in the last seven months. If the old saying, “what doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger,” is true, then that is the only way to describe 2020 and the challenges that face this industry both now and into the future.

In the past 18 months, the organization has added 23 new contractor members and has reached the pinnacle of 200 members for the first time in its history. This accounts for about 50% of all contractors in Maine but more than 80% of all timber that is harvested annually.

The growth in contractors has taken place as a result of the PLC Board’s decision to diversify its membership criteria in 2016 by providing an opportunity for a broader range of contractors to join. This diversification includes opportunities for those that are involved with chipping, grinding, trucking and other components of the process to harvest and truck wood from

stump to mill to take advantage of all that the PLC has to offer.

As you may recall, in late 2017, the PLC, as a result of its collaboration with Acadia Insurance and the Cross Agency, was able to create a position for its first Safety and Training Coordinator. In the spring of 2019, Donald Burr joined the PLC full time to take on this role. Mr. Burr was a logger for 22 years, working primarily as a feller buncher operator for Madden Timberlands (Scott Madden, PLC Immediate Past President). He is also the lead instructor and coordinator for the very successful Mechanized Logging Operations Program in 2017, 2018, 2019 and again in the summer of 2020.

Safety, training and loss control are major priorities for the PLC. Mr. Burr’s portfolio includes oversight over the PLC’s training program development and coordination, including our Spring safety series, but also developing additional

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This is Part II of a series of articles, “Logging in Crisis” that began in the summer 2020 edition of The Logger’s Voice. In the series, the PLC is examining the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and recent mill losses on Maine’s logging industry. In this article, we provide the latest updates on the overall situation, and speak with PLC members who were interviewed for the first article to see what has changed, how they are adapting, and what the future may hold for them.

In September of this year, something happened that Richard McLucas, owner of R.C. McLucas, a PLC Member and Master Logger certified company operating in Maine and eastern New Hampshire, had never seen before.

“The week before last was the first week since I

started in 1988 that I could not move one stick of pulpwood,” Richard said. “I could move firewood, but as far as taking pulp to a paper company, I could not move one stick.”

At the time of the conversation it was nearly October, six months into a COVID-19 pandemic that had disrupted global economies and wood markets, and five months since the Pixelle Specialty Solutions pulp mill in Jay exploded - erasing about 20 percent of Maine’s total pulpwood market in a few seconds.

Since those two events, the Sappi Westbrook mill had announced it would be shutting down its biomass plant by the end of the year, eliminating one of the last regional consumers of biomass - already an unprofitable market for many loggers. Outbreaks of COVID-19 in the state’s few

R.C. McLucas active timber harvest underway in Waterford in September 2020.

remaining paper mills were beginning to disrupt operations and further weaken wood buying for mills already slowed by lower demand for paper. Pixelle, in a move most saw as ominous, laid off an additional 51 workers including most of its wood buyers.

In northern Maine, as uncertain markets cut demand for wood and the pandemic complicated U.S.Canada trade and travel, Seven Islands Land Co. in August idled most of its contractors until Oct. 1. In late September, LandVest Inc. announced all contractors in Aroostook County not working on pre-commercial thinning (spruce/ fir), would be shut down until the end of the year.

As the crisis dragged on, there was anger at the lack of action to help the industry, even as federal assistance for fishermen and farmers - including growers of

Christmas trees and hemp - made headlines.

Most loggers agreed the federal Paycheck Protection Program, though not created specifically for loggers, did help their companies, but said since then nothing substantial had happened. In the absence of aid, debt climbed, equipment purchases slowed or stopped, and business equity was tapped just to maintain payrolls and payments.

For most loggers in the southern half of the state, the loss of Pixelle’s pulp mill continued to dominate their list of issues. Richard said not enough has been done to encourage the rebuilding of the mill, and the damage from its permanent loss is something he fears many do not fully appreciate.

“I don’t think they get it, it isn’t just the logging

Crisis Continued Page 12

Crisis Continued from Page 11 16

that’s going to get hit, it’s going to be tire companies, fuel companies, convenience stores, you could go on and on,” Richard said. “It’s getting tougher and tougher and tougher here.”

That same domino effect could be experienced by Maine’s economy as a whole if the logging industry continues to weaken, ultimately collapsing the foundation of the state’s entire $7.7 billion forest economy, loggers warn.

Despite the warnings, by early fall 2020, many logging companies across the state were reporting major struggles. Most could still move plenty of saw logs, but described other markets as weak or nonexistent, and prices as poor. In many areas, the limited markets were reducing the ability to go into a wood lot and cut what should be cut to manage the stand properly and preserve forest health while still showing a profit for both the landowner and the logger.

The crisis for Maine’s logging industry was deepening.

It is what it is

L & A Ridley Logging Inc. in Jay is a small, third-generation family logging business, fully mechanized and efficient. The PLC Member and Master Logger certified company is used to dealing with challenges and adapting to them. Ron Ridley, his son, Corey, and truck driver Jeff Rowe make up the entire staff.

These days, the

challenges and demands of the business are greater than ever. Ron spoke on the phone in late September while delivering a load of wood on another long work day. The previous week he had broken a rib and Corey had broken his right hand within a few days of each other, but they were doing what they could to keep operating because they had no other choice.

“It’s been rough lately, not good timing, we can’t do everything we’re supposed to be doing that’s all,” Ron said.

Located just a few miles from the Pixelle pulp mill, the company was hit hard by its loss, but has struggled on, finding other buyers and continuing to operate. Markets are poor, and Ron does not pay himself every week.

“Hardwood’s starting to go a little bit better, softwood pulp’s nonexistent, biomass has been holding up for us, but we’re looking at cutbacks with the fall maintenance coming up,” Ron said.

The latest round of layoffs at Pixelle is, “not a good sign,” Ron said, worrying like others that it may mean rebuilding is not going to happen and the market for softwood pulp may never recover.

The Ridleys are loggers by choice. Like many in the woods business, they have skills they could take into another industry. Ron is a diesel mechanic and a truck driver. Corey has his degree for forestry and is working towards his forestry license. Both are skilled heavy equipment operators. They have options, but they want to continue logging, to keep a business and a way of life

R.C. McLucas grapple skidder in Waterford (above) and CTL Land Management Services forwarder in Jefferson (below).

going that three generations of Ridleys have chosen.

Although he and every other logger the PLC spoke to in this series remained reluctant to ask for aid, the lack of help for loggers while other industries continue receiving federal assistance has been very disappointing, Ron said.

“It is what it is, we’ll get by with or without them, it just seems disrespectful that other people get help and loggers don’t,” Ron said.

Back in June, Ron said he would like to have a business plan that is more than just, “survive.” Three months later, and with mud season coming up before an uncertain winter, it was still not possible to do that.

“I think most of us just want to survive and we’re struggling to do that,” Ron said. “We’ll hang on until springtime and I’ll probably reassess things then, I don’t know what else we can do.”

Diversify to survive

Not long ago, CTL Land Management Services in Washington had a business model built largely on revenue from softwood pulp trucked to the Pixelle mill. As recently as early April of this year, CTL was delivering 30-40

truckloads to Jay per week, keeping five mechanized logging crews in the woods.

“I could make a living on delivering loads of pine pulp to Jay, literally it was a profit center of the business,” Gavin McLain, who founded CTL with Kyle Overlock in 1998, said. “It’s a completely different business now than what we were accustomed to.”

The PLC Member and Master Logger company might well have closed its doors by now had Gavin and Kyle not seen the handwriting on the wall several years ago and begun to diversify the business. While they had no way of knowing a pandemic was coming or that their primary consuming mill would be lost to a disaster, years of watching the trend of rising costs for loggers without higher wood prices from wood buyers to compensate for those costs had convinced them logging was on a path to unprofitability.

CTL first branched out by launching a kiln dried firewood business several years ago. That business has since grown so well that the company will at the end of this year double its firewood production capacity to meet demand, Gavin said.

While the firewood operation was a success, that Crisis continued Page 14

Gavin McLain of CTL Land Management Services walking a harvest site in Jefferson in early October, 2020. CTL has diversified its operations to include a large kiln-dried firewood business and a sawmill (below).

Crisis Continued from Page 1316

alone was not going to be enough to make the business profitable long-term, so this year CTL took a much bigger step, building a large sawmill and branching out aggressively into land purchases and sales, and log purchases and sales.

The sawmill has come on line in the wake of the Pixelle explosion, and CTL is quickly ramping up production of value-added hardwood industrial products from rough-sawn lumber to dozens of varieties of wooden brackets/ packaging components for a local manufacturing company. A tracked wood chipper has been purchased to allow CTL to expand into more commercial land clearing.

The company has kept its workforce intact, but is down to three mechanized logging crews, shifting many employees out of the woods into its other operations. The three remaining wood crews combined are now averaging only 10 loads of hardwood pulp a week for outside sale, the rest of their production goes almost entirely to CTL’s operations.

“We’re using the equipment just to create the raw materials we need to do these other things,” Gavin said. “We have moved to a complete focus on diversification.”

The shift means changes in both equipment and harvesting methods. With softwood pulp nearly impossible to move and biomass paying poorly, CTL - like many other logging companies in Maine - is being forced to focus more on saw timber - and less on cutting the variety of wood that it normally would to achieve the best forest management outcomes.

“If you’re going to continue to do this, you’re going to have to cut logs, that’s just way it is,” Gavin said. “Our hand has been forced to basically go to the woods and get whatever’s going to make a paycheck, you can’t practice forestry the way we have traditionally practiced forestry, and that is unfortunate because that’s a big reason we got into this work in the first place, but for right now, that is the reality.”

We can turn this around

White Oak Inc. is based in St. Francis on Maine’s northern border, far from the Pixelle pulp mill and the looming closure of Sappi Westbrook’s biomass facility, but like many other logging and trucking firms in the north it

has had its share of challenges since the pandemic began. The economic shocks that followed the global spread of COVID-19 slowed demand for many wood-based products, eventually dropping wood purchases and prices in the north just as they did in the south. The loss of Jay, meanwhile, created an oversupply of pulp in the entire state, making it harder for northern Maine loggers to get rid of pulp as mills to the south that were still operating purchased what they needed closer to home. Contracts in the pipeline were canceled. Banks became reluctant to lend to woods companies. As spring turned to summer, major landowners began shutting down crews.

In August, White Oak was one of the companies affected when one of the major land companies it works on idled down because of the markets and - with 20 families depending on his business to put food on the table - owner Mike Nadeau struggled through all of this to find a way forward.

Speaking on a call at the end of September, Mike was upbeat after a rough summer: Finally, his crews were going back to working at full capacity the next week, thanks to Trucking GH Inc., Seven Islands Land Company, Landvest, Blanchet Logging, and Prentiss and Carlisle, but had taken this downtime to find new efficiencies, crosstrain workers to run a larger variety of equipment, and come up with a better, more adaptable business. He foresaw more rough times ahead, but felt his company had become stronger because of it.

“We gained a lot of knowledge and it made us better at the end of the day,” Mike said. “If we don’t try to adjust here and find different alternatives, we won’t be in business.”

Mike credited his workers with stepping up to the challenge after he told them White Oak could not survive with a “business as usual” approach. He thanked his lenders for working with him to gain time to retool his operation during the downtime, and landowners and others in the forest products chain in his region for pulling together to try and find ways to keep everyone going.

Mike believes 2020 has exposed weaknesses in Maine’s forest economy, and that now is the time to take a hard look at the way things are being done and seek better alternatives and ideas.

He pointed to the example of Sweden, where the business model for logging and forestry emphasizes steady, reliable harvesting that loggers, mills and landowners can

The Sappi Westbrook Mill.is scheduled shut down its #9 paper machine and biomass plant by the end of the year.

count on from year to year and plan around versus the unpredictable boom and bust cycle of timber harvesting here in the U.S.

Why is that important? Because a business owner can deal with many of the elements in the woods industry, but when you have health insurance and a quality of life that you normally provide to your employees, sudden, unplanned work stoppages like what happened to many logging firms this summer will eventually kill a business. Even the best professional contractors may not survive this, Mike said.

“We’ve got to start looking at these things as a state and an industry, and start planning and finding a better way,” Mike said. “It takes money to do that, but we need to do it.”

Mike said he believes there are more rough days ahead for Maine loggers, but he has no plans to give up, and for the moment is just grateful his crews have the chance to operate at 100 percent capacity in October.

“How long will it last? We can only pray it lasts for a while, because next year I feel is going to be even worse than this year,” Mike said. “But we can turn this around, we’re at a low point, but we can come out of it, if we work together.”

At the time this article went to print, federal legislation for logger and timber hauler relief introduced by Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Maine Rep Jared Golden and supported by Maine’s entire Congressional delegation remained stalled in Congress. Similarly, efforts to gain eligibility for loggers to access already-approved pandemic relief funds in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Coronavirus Food Assistance Program were ongoing but had not succeeded. The PLC was an architect of both efforts, and is continuing strongly advocating for Maine loggers.

Meanwhile, the PLC successfully advocated for the State of Maine to include loggers in Phase II of an Economic Recovery Grant Program that will use CARES Act relief funding to support Maine-based businesses and non-profit organizations hit by the pandemic. The funding originates from the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund and will be awarded in the form of grants to alleviate the disruption of operations suffered by Maine’s small businesses and nonprofits as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The PLC is grateful to Maine’s Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner, Heather Johnson, for making a point of reaching out to the PLC to ensure our members take advantage of this grant opportunity, and for cohosting a webinar on Oct. 7 to provide guidance on it and answer questions from members.

R.C. McLucas slasher at work in Waterford in September.

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resources and series including online options, which have become more important than ever in 2020. In January, Mr. Burr finished work on the NE Safe Logger Program, a fully online entry level training program for new hires in the industry that was rolled out to the membership shortly thereafter. To date, more than 35 individuals have taken advantage of this convenient online program and we expect that number to double in the near future.

In 2020, the PLC continued its strong record of offering professional development for its membership, albeit in a different venue. As a result of the pandemic, we were forced to postpone our in-person safety training series for our members. While this was disappointing, it was the reality of the situation and we endeavored to provide online training to all of our members from the convenience of their own homes, garages or pickup trucks. While this isn’t the preferred method for the long run, it certainly did provide the opportunity to diversify what we have done in the past and we are hopeful to have our first in person safety training in early December with a full return to training in the spring of 2021.

In June 2019 and 2020, the PLC, in collaboration with the Maine Community College System, kicked off the third and fourth years of its Mechanized Logging Operations Program (MLOP) in Stratton and Greenbush Maine. The program was created thanks to a partnership between three Maine community colleges, the PLC, and industry partners including Milton CAT and Nortrax/John Deere. MLOP gives students a broad overview of the most common mechanical systems found in modern timber harvesting equipment, and an understanding of the variables of timber growth, tree species, and markets. It also includes a strong emphasis on safety. The program graduated 15 highly trained students in September 2019 and 10 students on October 9, 2020.

The PLC also had another successful run at the Maine Legislature during 2020, even though the session was cut short by about a month because of the pandemic. First, the PLC held its annual legislative breakfast in Augusta on March 5th. Over 50 legislators attended and

nearly 125 members and supporting members came to hear about the issues facing the industry and the ways that the Legislature could help. Speaker of the House Sara Gideon joined us and commended the PLC on its role in the legislative process and all of the good work that the organization has done to protect and improve one of Maine’s most important industries. This also provided the perfect backdrop for the PLC to release its new economic impact study, which showed that while things have dropped off considerably since 2014, the overall economic impact of logging in Maine as of 2017 was still over $620 million to the Maine economy and 9,000 jobs.

Three out of five of the PLC’s priority bills were passed and signed into law by the Governor this past session: 1) LD 1498, An Act To Provide Equity for Commercial Vehicles on Roads and Bridges in Mainesince 2003, a Canadian bridge weight advantage (Madawaska, Van Buren, Calais) has led to $108 million in lost economic opportunity for Maine’s loggers and truckers and 25 jobs/annually because of an unlevel playing field with Canadian contractors. This bill was carried over from 2019 to allow time for an economic analysis to be done. At the end of the day, we want a level playing field with our counterparts from Canada. The Transportation Committee voted unanimously to support the removal of the Canadian trucking weight exemption for wood fiber products (logs, chips, kraft pulp) beginning on December 31, 2025. While this is not immediate, it does remove this blatant economic advantage that the Canadians were given almost twenty years ago; 2) LD 2005, An Act To Amend the Law Governing Maximum Length Limits for Truck Tractor Semitrailers. This bill takes care of a technical issue on trailer length that came up in 2019 and put many of our members out of service and out of work; 3) on a nearly unanimous vote, the Legislature voted to approve a revised Supplemental Budget which included $2.5 million for Community College workforce training and $1.5 million for CTE’s to buy new equipment. This funding will keep the MLOP program running for at least two to three more years.

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Unfortunately, one bill, LD 912 – An Act to Establish the Wood Energy Investment Program, did not get taken up and looks like it will die along with 400 other bills from the 130th Legislature. LD 912 encourages new thermal energy markets in rural Maine to provide a path forward to replace four million tons of lost wood energy production. We will introduce this bill again in 2021.

At the federal level, the PLC has also had a strong impact, but our work is not done yet.

As it was clear that COVID 19 was going to wreak havoc upon our economy, Congress went to work on an aid package to help those who they thought would be most impacted. Included in that package was $16 billion for farmers, $2 billion for fisherman and $0 for loggers.

A survey of the membership of the PLC conducted in early May 2020 on the impact of COVID-19 on Maine's loggers/truckers revealed 88 percent of respondents have been negatively impacted by the pandemic. My guess is that today, this percentage is probably closer to 100.

Those impacts include revenue losses, layoffs, loss of clients, reduced productivity, and inability to plan for the future. Many respondents reported experiencing all of these effects. The companies responding to the survey represented 44 percent of the total membership of the PLC, and the predicted harvest losses for this subgroup alone would represent a minimum 6.8 percent of Maine’s total wood harvest for the most recent year for which data is available, 2018. As time goes on and market impacts are continuing to spiral, it is our prediction that a minimum of 20% of the annual timber harvest could be impacted. A 20% reduction in timber harvesting means a nearly $86 million direct economic loss for the Maine economy and over 600 jobs eliminated. Clearly, a lot is on the line.

In July, Senator Collins and Congressman Golden introduced the Loggers Relief Act to help this industry. The bill received full support from the entire Maine delegation, including Senator King and Congresswoman Pingree when it was introduced. The leadership of the Maine delegation on this issue has been unwavering and once again, Maine has taken the lead just like our state motto.

Under this proposal, $2.5 billion would be reserved for contractors that harvested/delivered wood to various mills across the country in 2019 to apply for low interest loans/grants through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assist them with their ability to continue business operations for the next twelve months while their markets attempt to recover, much like the assistance already given to producers of agricultural and seafood commodities. If a company that applies for and receives the funding can prove that their revenues or volume delivered are down 10% or more from 2019, the funds will be treated as a grant and forgiven. If company revenues are down less than 10% than what they declared in 2019, the funds will become a low interest loan and need to be repaid.

Unfortunately, Congress has not taken action on this bill as of October 16, 2020 and all other federal programs that have been administered to help businesses cope with the pandemic’s impact do not work well for loggers and log haulers. In the absence of Congressional action and to ensure that loggers and log haulers are afforded assistance similar to their counterparts in other natural resource-based industries such as farming and fishing, Senator Collins and Congressman Golden have sent letters to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue to urge the Department to use its broad authority and funds already provided by Congress to immediately make financial assistance available to loggers and log haulers impacted by the pandemic. The CARES Act appropriated $9.5 billion to USDA – which was leveraged with additional Commodity Credit Corporation funds for a total of $16 billion – to “respond to coronavirus by providing support for agricultural producers impacted by coronavirus.”

According to current USDA interpretation, however, loggers and log haulers are ineligible to receive any of this relief – despite the fact that there is sufficient USDA precedent for including these individuals in the definition of “agricultural producer.” For example, USDA’s Value-Added Producer Grants define “agricultural producer” as “an individual or entity that produces as Agricultural Commodity [including timber and

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forestry products] through participation in the day-to-day labor, management, and field operations; or has the legal right to harvest an Agricultural Commodity.” This precedent could be applied to CFAP, similar to what the Department has done for other fiber producers, to ensure these businesses that are the backbone of the forest products industry can emerge from this crisis. The PLC and the American Loggers Council will continue to push the White House and USDA to help loggers and truckers through this unfortunate time.

And lastly, the PLC has continued its leadership role as the state sponsor of the Log-A-Load for Kids Campaign. Our Annual Meeting was postponed this past spring and the in person auction we normally hold along with it, but we are persevering for the kids. On October 16th, we held a virtual auction and raised an additional $59,439 for our partners at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. In August and September, we held two successful golf tournaments in Lincoln and Lovell that raised $77,290. With the generous support of our members and the forest products industry, we have raised $136,729 thus far for Log A Load in 2020. The generosity of loggers never ceases to amaze me.

The past year has been the most challenging we have ever seen in our history, but we will get through it and look forward to our continued work on your behalf.

LogALoadAuction 2020!

$59,439 raised!

On the evening of Oct. 16, the Professional Logging Contractors (PLC) of Maine for the first time held its annual Log A Load for Maine Kids Auction as a virtual event, raising a record $59,439 for Children’s Miracle Network hospitals in Maine!

Held at Randall Madden’s garage in Milford, the event was live streamed by a WABI-TV crew and drew online participants from across Maine and beyond. Results from the live auction, silent auction, and donations allowed the PLC to exceed its fund-raising goal of $50,000.

“We’d like to thank all those participants, sponsors,

donors, volunteers and partners who made it possible for the auction to be so successful despite the challenges of the pandemic,” PLC Executive Director Dana Doran, said. “We had never attempted a virtual event like this and are proud that in this, the PLC’s 25th anniversary year, we can say we overcame the challenges to support Log A Load once again.”

Funds raised in the auction will go to Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland and Northern Light’s Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, both Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Great job everyone, and special thanks to auctioneer Scott Hanington!

LogALoad Golf Tournaments More than $77,000 raised!

The Professional Logging Contractors (PLC) of Maine held its annual Log A Load for Maine Kids Golf Tournaments this August and September, raising more than s Miracle Network Hospitals in Last year the PLC expanded its fund-raising efforts to hold two Log A Load golf tournaments, adding a new southern tournament at the Kezar Lake Country Club in Lovell, Maine in addition to the annual northern tournament at JATO Highlands Golf Course in Lincoln, Maine. The southern Maine tournament was held on Aug. 28, and the northern tournament on Sept. 18.

The PLC partners with the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital (BBCH) and Northern Light Health Foundation to hold the tournaments. BBCH in Portland and Northern Light’s Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor are Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

“The generosity of the PLC’s members, friends, and supporters has never been more inspiring than now, with every individual, business, and organization that stepped up to participate in this effort dealing with unprecedented challenges because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” PLC Executive Director Dana Doran said. “This is easily the toughest year our industry has experienced since PLC’s Log A Load efforts began 25 years ago, yet this group always comes through for the Log A Load cause and the kids.”

Like all events held by the PLC since the COVID19 pandemic began, the tournaments were held with social distancing and safety protocols. The PLC appreciates everyone’s cooperation and efforts to make both tournaments safe!

As always, thank you to the many generous sponsors, donors and volunteers and participants who stepped up in a very difficult year to make both tournaments successful. We couldn’t do it without you!

Trucking

Trucking Industry News...

FMCSA releases Hours of Service Final Rule, making 4 key rule changes

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has published their long-awaited Hours of Service Final Rule.

For nearly two years, the FMCSA has been crafting the changes to current Hours of Service regulations that were debuted on the morning of May 14. The agency has promised that the regulation changes will increase flexibility for U.S. truckers while maintaining highway safety.

“America’s truckers are doing a heroic job keeping our supply chains open during this unprecedented time and these rules will provide them greater flexibility to keep America moving,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

FMCSA says that they drafted the Final Rule after consulting more than 8,000 public comments from industry stakeholders, law enforcement, safety groups, and drivers themselves.

The Final Rule features four key changes to existing Hours of Service requirements.

• The Agency will increase safety and flexibility for the 30-minute break rule by requiring a break after 8 hours of consecutive driving and allowing the break to be satisfied by a driver using on-duty, not driving status, rather than off-duty status.

• The Agency will modify the sleeper-berth exception to allow drivers to split their required 10 hours off duty into two periods: an 8/2 split, or a 7/3 split with neither period counting against the driver’s 14‑hour driving window.

• The Agency will modify the adverse driving conditions exception by extending by two hours the maximum window during which driving is permitted.

The Agency will change the short-haul exception available to certain commercial drivers by lengthening the drivers’ maximum on‑duty period from 12 to 14 hours and extending the distance limit within which the driver may operate from 100 air miles to 150 air miles.

Many industry stakeholders had been hoping for a rule change that would allow drivers to “pause” the 14 hour clock, but the FMCSA said that they decided against this change after consulting public comment. The new Hours of Service rules will be implemented 120 days after the Final Rule is published in the Federal Register.

Cross-border Prohibition for CMV drivers with Insulin Treated Diabetes Mellitus (ITDM) Removed...

The FMCSA is alerting motor carriers and CMV drivers that cross the U.S.-Canada border that on Sept. 24, 2019, FMCSA and Canada formally updated their medical reciprocity agreement with Canada and removed the cross -border prohibition for CMV drivers with Insulin

Treated Diabetes Mellitus (ITDM). Letter exchanged by FMCSA and Transport Canada may be viewed on the International Safety Programs webpage https:// www.fmcsa.dot.gov/international-programs. American Borders Division, via email at Carla.vagnini@dot.gov, or by phone at (202) 366-3771.

DOT Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance Notice

…

The Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, Pub.

L. 115-334, (Farm Bill) removed hemp from the definition of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. Under the Farm Bill, hempderived products containing a concentration of up to 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are not controlled substances. THC is the primary psychoactive component of marijuana. Any product, including “Cannabidiol” (CBD) products, with a concentration of more than 0.3% THC remains classified as marijuana, a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. Learn more at https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/ USDOT/bulletins/27bd19f

First section of Presque Isle Bypass completed...

Maine Department of Transportation completed the first section of the 'Presque Isle Bypass' in May of 2019. This section connects the Fort Road with the Conant Road and offers a safer and more convenient travel route for heavy trucks. Learn more - https:// mcusercontent.com/50356bc32e7c1ced15b258bf6 /files/5c4af92c-d442-4483-bebe-d3b962aaca51/ bypass.pdf

By April Wadsworth

Wadsworth Woodlands, Inc. is a forestry company based in Cornish, Maine whose foremost objective is to help landowners achieve their goals of natural resource management through land management plans, sustainable and responsible harvests of wood products, and active forest product marketing. This ensures the greatest return on your forestland investment, forest health, and promoting multi-use woodlands.

Our mission is to continue growing a long-term forest management company in order to provide continuity to current landowners, as well as future generations. Wadsworth Woodlands, Inc. was established in 1994, and is a multigenerational family-owned business that has now been in operation for 26 years and offers over 87 years of combined forestry experience.

We proudly serve small and large landowners and have written land management plans for over 162,000 acres of private land as well as for Land & Conservation

Trusts in Maine and New Hampshire. We believe that good forestry practices begin with good landowner relationships, and that long-term sustainability is achieved through responsible resource management. We offer the convenience of being a full-service forestry company, utilizing the expertise of our professional foresters who are licensed in Maine and New Hampshire. Our foresters are very diverse, having worked all over the great state of Maine from Fort Kent all the way to the New Hampshire/ Vermont border; and we pride ourselves on offering a wide range of experience, knowledge and technology coupled with excellent customer service. As with any vocation, we are always evolving and incorporating new technology and techniques; but are steadfast in remaining stewards of the forest.

It is so important to utilize a licensed forester in developing management objectives as well as providing

We utilize professional loggers who are both economically and environmentally focused, and create a healthy and improved forest stand poised to increase growth rates for the future.

Wadsworth Woodlands Forester Caleb Winslow, at left, with Jason Berry of PLC Member and Master Logger company Khiel Logging and Chipping at a job site in southern Maine.

guidance, and expertise to satisfy the landowners objectives for forest management and harvests. Our land management style focuses on uneven land management resulting in long term sustainability, and leaving behind the best growing stock to grow for future generations.

We specialize in Selective Timber Harvesting and utilize several different harvest techniques which include: Biomass Whole Tree Harvesting, Non-Biomass Whole Tree Harvesting, and Traditional Hand Crew. We facilitate and manage harvests from start to finish ensuring that the landowner’s objectives are met. We are a preferred supplier to the majority of local mills which allows us to guarantee the greatest financial return for the landowner’s wood products.

We utilize professional loggers who are both economically and environmentally focused, and create a healthy and improved forest stand

poised to increase growth rates for the future. This includes working with many Maine Master Logger companies that are dedicated to professional harvest planning and the application of logging techniques that protect soil and water resources, cultural heritage, wildlife, and forest aesthetics while still maintaining returns for landowners.

GPS tracking is one technology Wadsworth employs to improve harvests.

We offer all the timber harvesting, forestry consulting and land management services a landowner would need to successfully manage their woodlot and grow their timber investment. Our team consists of four full time foresters all with BS degrees in Forestry from the University of Maine –Orono. On a daily basis all of them are either meeting with landowners, inspecting woodlots, writing Forest Management Plans, cruising and assessing your timber, supervising harvests, amongst a plethora of other activities.

Our clients put their trust in our qualifications and Wadsworth Continued Page 26

Wadsworth Woodlands Forester Caleb Winslow, at right, walking a landing with Troy Murch of Khiel Logging and Chipping.

Wadsworth Continued from Page 25 judgement, and allow us to treat the woods with our professional expertise. The working relationships we’ve built allow us to view the woods on a personal level with a “treat the lands as if you owned it’ mentality; and we feel it is of the utmost importance to maintain frequent communication, be accessible, and provide continuous care regarding a client’s land; and these qualities cannot be underestimated.

One of the many strengths at Wadsworth Woodlands, Inc. is our ‘family’ mindset. Our family approach, we feel, creates a foundation of trust and gives each of our team members the drive to perform with accountability, purpose and to work together to manage the moving parts and sustain momentum. From the foresters to the administrative staff we diligently work together to ensure your experience with us is as seamless, and as easy as possible.

Wadsworth Woodlands, Inc. became a supporting member of the PLC in 2015 when we realized how effective they are in advocating for the timber harvesting and wood products industry - the PLC gets things done. We

firmly believe they are the voice of Maine’s logging industry as they advocate for all of us through the various challenges of Maine’s forestry and logging industry.

The foundation of our company is to create and maintain strong, lasting relationships with both our clients and the mills. We feel strong relationships go hand in hand with good forestry practices; and we are committed to serving the individual forestry needs of our clients and their woodlands. As professional foresters, our mission is to provide landowners with a wide array of economical forestry services and bring our expertise and experience to responsibly work with their woodland.

We strive to always do our best in satisfying our client’s objectives, and in return we can feel good about our accomplishments. We believe that good forestry practices begin with good landowner relationships, and that longterm sustainability is achieved through responsible resource management. A well-managed, sustainable woodlot is good for you and even better for the forests!

Wadsworth Woodlands Office located at 134 Main Street in Cornish, Maine.

Wadsworth Woodlands Office Manager Nathan Wadsworth, at left, with Wadsworth Forester Caleb Winslow.

Richard Wing and Son Logging solves South Portland schools outdoor

seating problem

In early September, Gretchen McCloy,, director of Community Partnerships for the South Portland School Department, had a problem. Eight schools creating outdoor classroom spaces in response to the COVID-19 pandemic needed seating for students. PLC Member Richard Wing and Son Logging of Standish had the answer.

Early on the morning of Sept. 23, Richard Wing and employees sawed up hemlock logs donated by Phinney Lumber for the purpose into about 100 bucket-sized chunks to be used as outdoor seats, transporting them hours later to South Portland High School where McCloy met workers to unload them.

The hemlock logs were ideal to be used outside and also met the approval of the school nursing staff as a seating surface deemed better than most conventional seats for reducing the risk of spreading viruses, McCloy said, thanking the Wings for stepping up and solving the problem when they heard about the need.

“We’re happy to do it,” Richard said. “We did a similar ting for the Gorham schools not long ago.”

The hemlock logs are now in use throughout the school system, and Alicia Heyburn, Executive Director of Teens to Trails, which has been working with schools including those in South Portland to make outdoor learning spaces a reality, said they are part of making being outdoors - always mentally and physically good for children but especially vital now - a major part of attending school in a pandemic.

“That’s where it’s healthy to be,” Alicia said. ”That was the origin of the outdoor classroom initiative - we’ve got to get kids back in school because that’s where they need to be, ”

Students at Brown Elementary School in South Portland using hemlock log sections for seating in an outdoor classroom.

From left to right, Tim, Lynn, and Richard Wing.

Gretchen McCloy, center, unloading log ends at South Portland High School with employees of Richard Wing and Son Logging.

Mechanized Logging Operations Program Graduation 2020!

SUMMIT TOWNSHIP - The Mechanized Logging Operations Program (MLOP), a training program of the Maine Community College System (MCCS) in collaboration with the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine (PLC), graduated 10 students in a socially distanced, live-streamed event at an active timber harvest site in the woods northeast of Old Town, Friday, Oct. 9.

Students in the 12week certificate program spent the summer and early fall harvesting timber at the site using sophisticated stateof-the-art machines like those they will encounter in the logging industry. The hands-on experience students gained operating equipment is something unavailable anywhere else in Maine and neighboring states.

This year’s class is the fourth since the program launched in 2017. The program, run out of Northern Maine Community College (NMCC), was the first and remains one of the only postsecondary training programs in Maine to hold classes in the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. This was possible thanks to rigorous safety protocols and the outdoor nature of most of the training, which involves students operating equipment while communicating with instructors and other students via radios.

Speaking at the event, which was streamed on Zoom for friends and family of the graduates, Dana Doran, Executive Director of the PLC, thanked the students for their hard work and dedication, congratulating them on completing the program despite the challenges of the pandemic.

“I couldn’t be more proud to stand in front of you today, Doran said. “I want to commend you on your perseverance, I want to commend you on your patience, this has certainly not been an easy summer for any of you, but your hard work will pay dividends.”

PLC First Vice President Tony Madden, owner of A.W. Madden, agreed, telling the students that even though the logging industry is struggling right now the

importance of the MLOP program to the industry remains high, the industry will be strong again, and the skills and education the students have gained will allow them to succeed in that industry.

“I wish we had a program available like this when I started logging, I learned the hard way and made a lot of expensive mistakes,” Madden said. “Trained operators like you are needed now, and will be in even higher demand in the future. The future is yours, never stop learning, you will succeed.”

2020 graduates include: Matt Southard of Frankfort, Chris Meakin of Dedham, John McAvoy of Sidney, Noah Holesha of Bangor, Tory Porter of Hampden, Carl Ross of China, Brian Lynch of Camden, Greg Stewart of Harmony, John MacNiell of Millinocket, and Chris Pedersen of Winterport.

The Mechanized Logging Operations Program was created thanks to a partnership between the MCCS, the PLC, and industry partners.

The program gives students a broad overview of the most common mechanical systems found in modern timber harvesting equipment, and an understanding of the variables of timber growth, tree species, and markets. It also includes a strong emphasis on safety.

The program is working in tandem with the state’s current vocational training system and has drawn many of its students from within the logging industry itself as well as from Maine’s five Career and Technical High School logging programs in Dyer Brook, Farmington, Frenchville, Norway/South Paris and Rumford/Mexico. For the first time, logging operators are being trained similarly to other advanced trade occupations with a high school and postsecondary pathway approach. The program is only made possible thanks to generous support from industry partners including Milton CAT/Caterpillar, Nortrax Inc./John Deere, Weiler, Pro Pac, Labonville Inc., Davco, Katahdin Fire Company, Waratah, American Forest Management, Randall Madden Trucking, and Madden Timberlands, Inc.

PLC President Tony Madden addresses the students.

MLOP graduate Noah Holesha of Bangor receiving his certificate.

Acadia Insurance to Distribute Premium Dividends to Eligible PLC Safety Group Members

WESTBROOK, Maine (9, 2020) Acadia Insurance, a W. R. Berkley Company®, recently announced that it will pay $871,919 in premium dividends to eligible policyholder members of the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine (PLC) Safety Group. Since 1999, Acadia has distributed over $11 million in premium dividends to eligible participants of this safety group.

Founded by Acadia Insurance, the PLC Safety Group dividend program rewards logging companies and sole proprietors for having a safe workplace by refunding a portion of their insurance premium if certain measures are met by the entire safety group. In addition, Acadia Insurance, in coordination with the PLC, provides risk management and mitigation expertise to members to help ensure the long-term sustainability of the logging industry in Maine.

“Acadia Insurance is pleased to once again be returning premium through dividends to eligible hardworking members of the PLC,” said Douglas Freeman, Regional Vice President of Acadia Insurance’s Maine office. “This would not be possible without their dedication to operating safely in the forests and on the roads. The logging industry has not escaped the impacts of the pandemic to Maine’s economy, and we hope that these premium dividends will help the members navigate through the continuing challenges.”

The PLC of Maine has been serving loggers since 1995 and aims to give independent logging contractors a voice in the ever changing logging industry. The PLC focuses on advocacy, safety, quality operations and business innovation for loggers. The PLC is a logging organization run by loggers that understands the importance of the logging industry and its impact on the Maine economy.

For more information about the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine Safety Group, please contact Kim Farquhar, Marketing Director, Acadia Insurance, at kimberly.farquhar@acadiains.com

About Acadia Insurance

Acadia Insurance is a regional underwriter offering commercial and specialty property casualty insurance coverages through independent insurance agents with local offices in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. Rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best, Acadia Insurance Company is a member company of W. R. Berkley Corporation, one of the nation’s premier commercial lines property casualty insurance providers. Please visit www.acadiainsurance.com.

FallProtection

ByDonaldBurr

PLCSafety&TrainingCoordinator safety@maineloggers.com

Today let’s talk fall protection. The OSHA general industry rule is anything above four feet needs to have some kind of barrier (hand railings), or you need to have fall protection to protect you if you fall. In the world of safety, I get emails from OSHA about what they are finding and fining in the working world. Falling protection is mentioned in every update I read. This is clearly something they are looking for when they come around and do inspections.

Today I received an email noting that fall protection was cited as the number one violation (6,010 citations) for OSHA & number 8 (1,773 citations) for not providing proper training. In logging I think the piece of equipment that has the most exposure is the delimber because we need to get on top regularly to grease the top rolls and inspect the upper boom components.

A full body harness is a simple and inexpensive way to go to give your operators more protection. We experimented with a body harness on the Mechanized Logging Operations Program (MLOP) in the summer of 2020. When I was putting the plan into motion, I did not think that it was going to go well or be easy. I could not have been more wrong.

I first priced out a harness that was not expensive (about $130.00) that would be able to adjust to my smallest or largest student (being a big guy myself I don’t like wearing something that does not fit and restricts my movements). The added bonus was that I found a harness that came in a 5gallon pail with an easy to remove lid. This provides a simple

Things to remember:

1. Train all your employees on wearing a full body harness that might need to work above 4 ft. off the ground at least once a year, using a competent trainer. OSHA requires this and often companies are getting fined not for not having the fall protection but not having documentation of training their employees on fall protection.

Train your employee to know the following about fall protection:

A. When they need to use the equipment

B. How to inspect the equipment

C. How to use the equipment

D. The limitations of the equipment that you are providing

way to store the harness in a dry clean environment. (In the old days that was always a struggle to keep harnesses clean &

The next challenge was to find a good anchor. OSHA foot free fall before the harness catches you and the anchor needs to be able to hold 5,000 lbs. force applied to it. I think the obvious answer here is the two cables that help support the boom. The two cables are 5/8 wire in size and well exceed the strength requirements for an anchor. I have the students climb up the right side of the delimber where the steps are good and hook into the closest cable and then grease that side of the boom. Then climb into the tree pan and grease the hose roller end. The next move is important, I have them climb over the boom leaving the anchor on the cable. On the cab side is where there is the most exposure from falling and leaving the anchor on the far side of the cable limits how far they could fall before the harness catches them. After they are all done with greasing and inspecting I have them climb down the way they climbed up using all the steps and hand holds and only unclipping after they are down as low as they can go and still reach the anchor.

You can see in the picture the student is clipped in on the cab side greasing the low fittings on that side while the cab is rolled forward. Let’s work safe whether it is on the ground or on top of the delimber.

E. How to perform a rescue if someone falls

F. How to document the use of and inspection of the equipment

G. The procedures & policies of using this equipment

H. How to report damage & close calls with the equipment

2. Make sure the equipment is in serviceable condition and available to the employees.

3. Inspect the equipment before each use.

4. Write a policy & procedures for your employees to follow for each piece of equipment.

5. Review & document the review of the policy once a year.

Safety

Ted Clark, CLCS, Loss Control Consultant, Acadia Insurance

Quarterly Safety Meeting: Diabetes

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death every year in the United States and affects about 34.2 million people of which 1 in 5 do not realize they have it. There are three types of Diabetes, but for the purpose of this article we will focus on Type 2 diabetes which the CDC estimates makes up 90-95% of all cases. Because of the prevalence of diabetes among adults and the unique challenges that logging presents to emergency response, it is critical for employees to understand how to recognize the early symptoms of a diabetic emergency as well as the steps they can take to reduce the chance of a severe medical emergency.

In the simplest terms, diabetes can be defined as blood sugar levels that are not well regulated. Your body turns the majority of food and drinks that you consume into sugar which elevates the sugar level in the blood. Once your blood sugar level begins to increase, your pancreas releases insulin to lower the blood sugar levels. People who have diabetes either can’t make enough insulin; or they are resistant to the insulin that their body creates. Regardless of the underlying health reasons, a diabetic emergency can have potentially life threatening consequences so quick recognition and treatment of symptoms may make the difference of life and death.

Typical symptoms of low blood sugar include:

Mental Status Change – the patient may experience dizziness, shakiness or mood change even combativeness. May also experience a headache, confusion or difficulty paying attention.

Pale skin and sweaty

Hunger

Clumsy, jerky movements

Possible seizure

You can treat low blood sugar by giving three glucose tablets (½ cup of fruit juice, 1 or 2 sugar packets or 56 pieces of hard candy). Monitor the patient closely following

administration of the sugar. If the patient feels ill or has signs and symptoms after 15 minutes, give more sugar. Call 9-1-1 if the person becomes unresponsive or continues to have signs and symptoms.

Typical symptoms of high blood sugar include:

Frequent urination

Drowsiness

Dry mouth and thirst

Shortness of breath

Breath that smells fruity

Nausea and vomiting

Unresponsiveness

High blood sugar is a medical emergency and should be treated immediately by calling 9-1-1 and getting the patient to advanced medical care. If you are uncertain if the person has high or low blood sugar, the National Safety Council advises that it is safe to administer sugar.

Diabetes is a medical condition that continues to become more prevalent throughout the United States. As it becomes more common, the chance of being exposed to someone having a diabetic emergency increases. Because of this, you should reference this safety meeting on occasion to make sure you are prepared to recognize a diabetic emergency and quickly and effectively treat it.

Acadia Insurance is pleased to share this material with its customers. Please note, however, that nothing in this document should be construed as legal advice or the provision of professional consulting services. This material is for general informational purposes only, and while reasonable care has been utilized in compiling this information, no warranty or representation is made as to accuracy or completeness.

sign-in sheet on the back! Cut along dotted line to left to detach this section.

Safety

*This sign-in sheet is intended to be used with the quarterly Safety Training Topic on page 31. Refer to the cutline on page 31 when removing it from the magazine.

Safety

Keep the focus on Safety!

Members who are part of the PLC Safety Group Dividend Program, As you know, the PLC working in partnership withAcadia Insurance has made great strides in improving safety and reducing losses for our members in recent years. Since 1999,Acadia Insurance has returned over $11 million in premium dividends to members, which is a great testament to your efforts to mitigate risk in your businesses.

As we head into the final weeks of 2020, we are focused on having another

successful year for the program. We encourage you all to redouble your efforts on safety!

Please feel free to contact PLC Safety Coordinator Donald Burr or PLC Executive Director Dana Doran if you have questions or to explore options for additional safety training for your employees.

another successful year for the program if members pull together on this issue!

Trust to Conserve Northeast Forestlands Executive Director named to FSC U.S. Board of Directors

AUGUSTA, ME - Trust to Conserve Northeast Forestlands (TCNEF) Executive Director Ted Wright has been elected to serve a three-year term on the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) U.S. Board of Directors, effective Sept. 1, 2020.

Wright is a Maine native and Executive Director of both the TCNEF and the Northeast Master Logger Certification Program, which the Trust oversees.

In 2019 under Wright’s leadership, the TCNEF received an FSC Leadership Award.

“I’m honored at the opportunity to serve on the FSC U.S. Board and represent the interests and perspectives of professional loggers who are committed to the responsible management of forests for all as well as the protection of small rural communities that they reside and work in near FSC-certified forests,” Wright said.

The FSC U.S. Board of Directors is the organization’s highest governing authority and consists of up to fifteen individuals, all of whom are U.S.-based FSC members.

Each of the three FSC chambers (Social, Economic and Environmental) has three representatives which are elected by US-based FSC members and serve for a threeyear term. An additional two individuals may be appointed in each chamber by the Board, typically to ensure a full range of perspectives and expertise.

The Board leads the development of national strategy, oversees the chief executive, ensures effective financial oversight, and approves the National Forest Stewardship Standard and Controlled Wood National Risk Assessment. In addition, the Board plays an important role in FSC globally, working on issues affecting the broader FSC community. Wright will serve on the Social Chamber of the Board.

Steve Hanington, President of Hanington Brothers, a Macwahoc Maine Master Logger company, noted this is the first time a representative of the logging industry has served on the FSC U.S. Board and said this is significant for both FSC and the industry.

“It is very important for the ones who are actually implementing the outcomes of certification in the forest to have a say,” Hanington said. “A representative who can provide the board with our knowledge and experience of the on-the-ground performance of continued improvement policies will have a great impact, and this is a good thing for

both certification and the companies working in the woods.”

Wright grew up in Aroostook County on a potato farm in Littleton, ME and began harvesting wood from the farm and discovered he really enjoyed the work. He attended the University of Maine at Fort Kent and graduated in 2005 with an Associate’s degree in Applied Forest Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies, then went to work at Louisiana-Pacific in Houlton for a year. He then took a job at the Region Two School of Applied Technology in Houlton teaching in their Wood Harvesting/ Forestry program for seven years before accepting the TCNEF Director’s job in the fall of 2015. He and his wife, Maggie, and children, Madigan and Ben, live in Brunswick, Maine.

The Northeast Master Logger Certification Program was created in 2000 by the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine (PLC) as the first in the world point-of-harvest certification program, offering third party independent certification of logging companies’ harvesting practices. In 2003, PLC created TCNEF to administer the program with the broader goal of “enhancing the health of working forest ecosystems through exceptional accountability” throughout the Northern Forest region.

TCNEF administers an FSC®-certified group of family forest landowners throughout New England and New York. Under this arrangement forest landowners can inexpensively gain access to FSC® group certification.

TCNEF is the administrative body that holds the FSC certificate and has overall responsibility for compliance with the FSC® Northeast Regional Standard. TCNEF also administers an FSC®-certified group of Chain of Custody that provides an information trail, established and audited according to rules set by FSC, for Master Loggers and wood products companies to ensure that wood comes from certified forests.

For more information on the Master Logger program or TCNEF, contact Ted Wright at (207) 688-8195 opt. 2 or executivedirector@tcnef.org.

Ted Wright

AWordFrom PattyCormier

MaineForest Service Director

Fall is upon us, and we know what follows even in a year that doesn’t want to follow any rules. Fieldwork at the Maine Forest Service never skipped a beat this past summer. Here is a quick summary of what folks have been busy with:

The forest inventory and analysis crews are a week ahead of schedule, on the way to complete this year’s 600 inventory plots. The information gathered is critical for all those who benefit from our forests and provides the basis for good forest policy.

As I write this, we are getting very close to having the highest number of forest acres burned in 20 years, almost 1000 acres. This is double the average of 500 acres per year. The top three reasons for fires this year are 1. Debris fires, 2. Equipment fires and 3. Escaped campfires.

As of mid-September, we have two wildland crews out west, each with one of our type 6 engines. One crew of four rangers is in Willow springs CA, the other crew of 10 (4 rangers and 6 civilian firefighters) is in CO. These mobilizations provide the opportunity to not only assist other states as they would us, but also to gain valuable experience that only strengthens our abilities to respond to fires and other large incidents back here in Maine. The rangers also recently worked with game wardens on a collaborative effort for “Landowner Appreciation Day” to clean up reported sites of dumped trash on private property. They cleaned up over 700 tires plus much more trash!

The forest health folks have been very busy with browntail moth issues and spruce budworm monitoring along with a suite of other insect and disease issues. One of our most important roles among the three divisions though, is the number of field assists that have occurred for loggers and landowners, at their request, by our district foresters and rangers along with the forest health staff. This

is a key role we play. Let me use this as an opportunity to encourage the PLC membership to please get in touch with us if you could use a little guidance, or maybe just a second opinion on forestry challenges you might face. The best contact route is our website: www.maineforestservice.gov or call 207-287-2791.

Your Executive Director has been working tirelessly with the delegation and others to push for COVID relief for loggers and truckers. I and the administration fully support those efforts. This can be an often-frustrating effort; but let us hope that our voices are heard and represented and these efforts are successful. These efforts are also supported by the National Association of State Foresters, as this is a nationwide need. I speak with my counterparts often, and they are doing what they can to get this relief going.

Here in Maine two small business relief programs have been offered through the Department of Economic Development(DECD). While not specific to forestry-related businesses, a number of such businesses did apply. Another program will soon be offered through DECD. We will be getting word out about that program and other opportunities through our various social media outlets as well as on our MFS logger listserve. If you are not signed up for our listserve, please contact us to get added. I realize that it might not seem like it sometimes, but there are many folks pushing for relief on your behalf, locally and nationally.

As always, I wish you all well during these tough times, I encourage you to reach out to me or any of the three divisions of the Maine Forest Service. We remain lean and are used to that, but are committed to the goal of assisting and supporting the forestry sector.

IntroducingyourDistrictForesters

MeetDanJacobs

For over 20 years, Dan Jacobs has served as a District Forester with the Maine Forest Service in northern Maine.

Dan holds a Master of Science degree in Forestry from the Pennsylvania State University at University Park. Prior to joining the Maine Forest Service, he provided forestry consulting services in New Hampshire and Maine and worked as a forester with International Paper and the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians.

As a District Forester, Dan has consistently attended PLC’s annual safety trainings and has worked with the Northeast Master Logger Certification Program on Best Management Practices (BMPs) training. Over the years, Dan has been actively involved with forestry organizations such as ME SFI, Maine Woodland Owners, and the American Tree Farm System. He strives to provide his customers with the best information possible through in-person meetings on job sites and educational workshops, as well as through his work on forestry publications such as the Forestry Rules of Maine. Dan looks forward to assisting Maine’s landowners, loggers, and foresters through his role as a District Forester for several more years.

“One of the best aspects of my job is working with the Region Two vocational forestry students and running into the same students in the woods years later – when they have a career in the forest products industry,” Dan said.

Like all District Foresters, Dan responds to requests for assistance from all audiences, including loggers.

Many of the most common questions deal with timber harvesting, both in the planning stage and once operations are underway. Did you know you can ask a District Forester to visit a site before, during or after logging? Understanding harvest regulations and identifying ways to apply Best Management Practices (BMPs) that protect water quality are two of the most

common requests. Every situation is different so it’s often helpful to have Dan come out to a site – ideally before work begins to help determine if and how the

and other DFs also teach classes about a range of forestry topics, from forest management to BMPS to wildlife considerations in forestry to the Tree Growth Tax Program.

Dan and the other DFs are a great resource

please use them!

DistrictForesterbasedinHoulton

BridgeCleaningtoProtectWater Quality

ByTomGilbert WaterResourcesSpecialist MaineForestService

Keeping bridge decks clean of accumulated soil is an important practice for maintaining the integrity of wooden decks, preventing sedimentation of waterways and maintaining compliance with state and federal water quality regulations. The following are several suggestions to aid in achieving these goals:

Site Wide

Preventing soil from accumulating on your bridge deck starts with effective planning and use of BMPs across a harvest site. This is part of using a “systems approach” in harvesting activities. Woody material such as slash and corduroy should be used throughout the site, particularly in wetter areas and steep slopes, to prevent sediment from becoming exposed and attaching to equipment. It is also important to design approaches properly, avoiding long, straight or steep runs where runoff can gain volume and velocity leading up to a crossing. This of course is a threat to water quality and can also allow excess soil to accumulate on bridge decks.

Skid Trails

On skid trails, an appropriate amount of slash should be applied to approach areas within the woodland buffer and continue outside of the buffer where slopes are 5% or greater. This will greatly reduce soil movement and attachment to equipment. Slash material should be regularly maintained to ensure its effectiveness.

Haul Roads

On haul roads, it is important to practice proper grading techniques to ensure that roads are graded to direct runoff into wooded areas, not into waterways or onto bridge decks. In addition, graders

may be directed to grade away from bridges to prevent carrying soil onto bridge decks.

Removing Accumulated Soil

Soil can be shoveled and swept from the decking, starting in the middle of the bridge and working towards either end. The sediment can then be either incorporated into a road or spread evenly in a forested area, preferably outside of the woodland buffer and outside of any areas where runoff is directed. Compressed air can be used to blow the remaining dirt in the same fashion; from the middle of the bridge towards both ends. This may be done to maintain the integrity of the wooden decks and to prevent sediment from getting into watercourses.

There is no one practice that is used to keep bridges free of accumulated sediment, but a series of practices and principles used site-wide to reduce soil disturbance and prevent runoff from being directed towards bridges or the waterbodies they cross. For more information and guidance on the use of forestry BMPs in Maine, please visit the Water Resources section of our website: www.maineforestservice.gov.

For more information on fundamental forestry BMPs please see our field friendly BMP manual, Protecting Maine’s Water Quality, available on our website:

https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/ policy_management/water_resources/ bmps.html

ForestOperationsNotifications (FONS)

For over 30 years, the Forest Operations Notifications (FONS) system has been paperbased. Landowners and managers submit paper copies to the Maine Forest Service (MFS); data is entered by hand; acknowledgment letters printed and mailed; FONS filed, etc. Repeat the process with amendments. Then paper copies of landowner harvest reports are sent out at the end of the year. More paper, more data entry, more filing. That’s all about to change.

Starting in January 2021, FONS will become Forest Online Resource Tool (FOResT), and it will be all online. Landowners, Designated Agents, Foresters, and Loggers will need to create individual accounts in FOResT to participate in harvest notifications.

Some important features include mapping of Forest Operations Notification activities, digital signatures, automatic notification of all parties named on a notification, and automated, end of year landowner reports.

"The Maine Forest Service has a rich history of ensuring that Maine's forests continue to provide a full range of benefits to present and future generations of Maine people," Maine Forest Service Director Patty Cormier observed. Part of that effort is maintaining a notification database for harvest activity in Maine. This database helps the Maine Forest Service develop and advocate for activities that encourage the sound, long-term management of Maines forests, and to provide reliable, timely and accurate information about the forest resource. This new online harvest notification system will provide

for ease of access, and ready information for forest practitioners. We at the Maine Forest Service are happy to offer this online service for your convenience.

MFS currently is testing the system with a small set of users to identify and fix glitches before the system goes fully live. We will continue to offer additional information, including how-to videos, as the year progresses.

For now, you don’t need to do anything. Just be aware that paper FONS are going away soon.

As We See ItAugust 2020

Update - Logger Relief Funds

By Danny Dructor

As of this writing, August 3, 2020, Congress has yet to approve the next stimulus package to provide financial assistance to businesses during these unprecedented financial times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of the American Loggers Council are pushing hard to seek a relief package that would help logging and log trucking businesses to cope with loss of markets, quotas and other Coronavirus related issues that are dragging down their businesses.

What began as a request for a low interest loan to assist logging and log trucking businesses during these hard times has morphed into a bill, the Logger Relief Fund, House Resolution 7690 and Senate Bill 4233 that would allow logging and log trucking businesses to compare revenues for the first 7 months of 2010 to those of 2019. If revenues are down by more than 10% in 2020 as compared to 2019, then a logging or log trucking business would be eligible to apply for funds not exceeding more than 10% of the gross business revenues for the period between January 1, 2019 and July 31, 2019. These funds are not intended to make businesses whole, but rather to allow them the opportunity to reorganize as markets around them continue to recover.

The American Loggers Council has secured support from both Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate and are looking to try and push this legislation in the next COVID-19 or CARES-2 Act as soon as this week. Other trade associations are lending their support in these final days of negotiations between the House and the Senate, but we still need as many of you to e-mail, or call your House and Senate members offices and request that they cosponsor the legislation, this week! You can go online at www.congress.gov and track both of the bills and also see a list of the cosponsors that have already signed on. If you do not see your Congressman or Congresswoman on the list of cosponsors under H.R. 7690, or your Senators on the list of cosponsors under S. 4233, then you should reach out to their staff immediately and request that they sign on.

Quoting a message recently sent to this office from

a former staff member, “The art of the blow-off is highly refined on Capitol Hill.” Do not allow them to simply send you a form letter that has been disguised with a blue ink signature that vaguely mentions your request for them to sign on to the legislation. Let them know that you are one of the folks back home that votes for them and that you are requesting that they represent you as one of their constituents. Be original and be firm.

To quote another mentor in the logging profession and long-time advocate for our industry, Bruce Vincent, “The world is run by those who show up.” Have you shown up yet? Have you taken the time to respond to action alert requests that have gone out over social media sites and web sites? If not, and you wish to see the relief fund move forward, you must do so now.

Thanks to all of you who have already made your voices heard, and thanks in advance to those who will reach out this week to help push this legislation across the finish line.

The American Loggers Council is an 501(c)(6) not for profit trade association representing professional timber harvesters throughout the United States. For more information please contact the American Loggers Council at 409-625-0206, or americanlogger@aol.com, or visit our website at www.amloggers.com

As We See It September 2020

Report shows $1.83 billion impact of COVID-19 to Loggers

By Danny Dructor

Countless businesses across the spectrum of industries have been impacted by COVID-19 and now can tell stories about how government assistance rescued them from the brink of collapse; but there are some stories left untold.

A recent analysis generated for the American Loggers Council (ALC) shows that this year’s decrease in raw wood material consumption has led to a $1.83 billion reduction in the value of logger/trucker-delivered wood. The report, conducted by the analytics firm Forests2Market, found that raw wood material consumption between January-July 2020 was 6.7% less than the same period in 2019 – dropping 21.4 million tons of material. This resulted in a 13% reduction ($1.83 billion) in value of the delivered wood.

While Congress and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have provided funding for numerous agricultural categories, they have not yet classified timber within the category that qualifies for COVID-19 assistance. According to 7 U.S.C§1518.; timber and forest are described as an agricultural commodity along with fruits, vegetables, and other common agricultural goods.(7 U.S.C Section 1518) Danny Dructor, Executive Vice-President of the American Loggers Council, stated that, “Given the fact that wool, cut

flowers, aloe leaves, and upland cotton are included in the USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) it is a reasonable request to ask that timber and logging be covered under the program as well.”

The USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) received $16 billion to provide direct support to certain agricultural producers based on actual losses where prices and market supply chains have been affected. The program will assist producers with additional adjustments and changes in marketing costs that result from oversaturated markets and lack of demand for the 2020 marketing year as a result of COVID-19.

The ALC created SaveOurLoggers.com as a new website to highlight the impact of COVID-19 on the logging and wood products industry. The website features testimonial stories and videos directly from those who have experienced difficult circumstances.

The current conditions loggers are facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic have left them in dire economic straits. Many loggers have shared their stories of how COVID-19 is affecting their businesses on SaveOurLoggers.com.(Logger Stories)

Bobby Goodson, star of the Discovery Channel’s hit show Swamp Loggers, describes how, as a fourth generation logger with over 35 years in the business, his

ALC Continued Page 42

company has never experienced a situation as threatening to their existence as an industry as during the COVID-19 pandemic. He describes how logging is essentially farming with harvesting trees as an agricultural commodity.

Dale Heil of Stratford, Wisconsin gives one example of how the pandemic is bleeding out a vital American industry, “The closing of the Verso mill caused by Covid 19 took away 70 percent of my market.”

Justin Yale of Gwinn, Michigan, who has provided trucking services for the logging industry for ten years, gives further insight into the peril the pandemic has sent the industry into, “I provide trucking services to the raw timber product producers. Tonnage hauled so far this year is down 72% from this time last year.”

Without assistance from the CFAP program

loggers have turned to Congress and the Administration seeking help from the next COVID relief package through the Logger Relief Act.

Bipartisan Logger Relief bills were introduced in the Senate (S.4233) by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), and in the House (H.R. 7690) by Representative Jared Golden (D-ME) and Representative David Rouzer (R-NC). Specifically, the bills would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make economic relief payments to logging and log trucking businesses who experienced losses of greater than 10% in the first two quarters of 2020 (as compared to 2019). The program would be similar to others already enacted by Congress for agricultural producers such as CFAP. Members of Congress from 13 states have cosponsored the Logger Relief Act.

As We See It October 2020

Greetings All!

By Tim Cristopherson

2020...Who knew, this is where we would be as a Nation when the year started?? The American Loggers Council has had to adjust to the many distancing requirements, meeting rules and so forth. There are some big changes in the works at the ALC and COVID 19 is putting tank traps in our road but we will work around them.

As the incoming President of the American Loggers Council, the first thing I’d like to do is to thank Shannon Jarvis for a great job along with Danny Dructor for steering the ALC through this mess and keeping things working without any face to face meetings in 2020. Thank you to Shannon and Danny.

I started working at Dabco Inc., the family’s logging business, when I was 15 1/2 years old, you know, before the Fair Labor Standards Act said we couldn’t do that (hint - help us get the Future Careers in Logging Act passed in Congress). During summers and school breaks I could be found sweeping the shop, greasing the log trucks, busting tires (fixin flats) and helping the mechanics work on equipment. In 1985 my Cousin Rick and I bought out our parents and logged until we down sized in 2018. Now I primarily focus on log hauling at a time when it is getting more difficult to find qualified drivers (hint - help us get the Safe Routes Act passed through Congress).

The ALC continues to work on timber and timber related issues in Washington D.C., including the Logger Relief bill which is at the top of the list at this moment to try and financially assist those loggers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (hint - help us get the Logger Relief Act passed in Congress). This being an election year who knows where this bill will end up and the challenges our industry will face in 2021. GO VOTE!!!......,stay tuned??

In 2021 the ALC will be looking at trying to replace Danny Dructor as our long time Executive

Director. The Executive Board has been working on the transition plan to make this transition as smooth as possible in the next year and I plan on continuing those efforts with the Committee to make the transition as seamless as possible. As members, if you have any input on this subject, do not keep it a secret, let the Executive Committee know. ... Danny and Doris are ready to go fishing!

Along with this transition, there have been a lot of other changes in my almost 50 years working in timber. Why just yesterday, I fixed a log truck tire, greased said log truck and other Greetings All! maintenance items. In this industry you never stop learning new stuff...and you don't forget the old stuff you learned 50 years ago!

I have thrown a few hints at you as to what our agenda will look like in 2021 and look forward to serving you as your 27th President. I am honored to be representing you through the American Loggers Council. Loggers working for loggers, that’s who we are.

Tim Christopherson is the co-owner of Dabco, Inc. based out of Kamiah, Idaho and serves as the President of the American Loggers Council and President of the Associated Logging Contractors, Inc. in Idaho. For the past several years he has walked the halls of Congress in Washington, DC with members of the American Loggers Council advocating for issues that would benefit the logging and log trucking profession.

Congressional Delegation Updates

Supporting Maine’s Forest Products Industry

By: Sen. Susan M. Collins

Throughout Maine’s history, our forest products industry has created good-paying jobs, driven local economies, and sustained rural communities. It is a linchpin of our State’s economy, generating an estimated $619 million in economic output and providing $342 million in income to around 9,000 Mainers.

Across the nation, this vital industry was already facing significant headwinds due to a changing 21st century economy and unfair trade practices. Here in Maine, the industry is further hampered by the explosion at the Androscoggin Mill in Jay, the shutdown of the paper machine at Sappi in Westbrook, and the announcement by Seven Islands that it shut down its contractors through September.

COVID-19 has only compounded these challenges. The logging industry has experienced a steep decline in demand for wood fiber since the coronavirus pandemic began, leading to an estimated 20 percent or more drop in the timber harvest this year.

Maine’s family logging and timber hauling businesses need our support. That is why I have joined

Pushing Relief for the Forest Economy in Washington

For generations, Maine’s loggers and truckers have worked in tough conditions to get the job done. No matter the challenge, you’ve used innovation and hard work to overcome obstacles and make vital contributions to your community, your state, and your country.

But right now, the challenges you’re facing are unlike anything we’ve dealt with before ranging from health risks to economic dynamics. The coronavirus pandemic’s ripple effects are hitting the forest industry hard financially. Economic uncertainty has created sharp and rapid downturns in markets for forest products, including a significant decrease in pulp and paper manufacturing. There’s no amount of hard work or innovation that can overcome that; it’s the simple law of supply and demand.

That’s why it is so critical that Congress steps up, and makes sure that America’s critical forest products industry and all the loggers who rely on it to make a living can make it through this crisis. This industry is a major foundational piece of American manufacturing,

with Rep. Jared Golden to introduce the bipartisan, bicameral Loggers Relief Act that would provide critical financial assistance to the skilled professionals who work in this industry in order to help them get through this difficult period.

Our bill would establish a new program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide direct payments to timber harvesting and hauling businesses that can demonstrate they have experienced significant economic hardship compared to the previous year. These businesses would qualify for direct payments from the USDA.

Specifically, our legislation would provide payments to eligible log harvesting and hauling businesses that have experienced at least a 10 percent loss in revenues as compared to the same timeframe last year. Those who qualify would receive direct payments and would only be permitted to use the funds for operating expenses, including payroll.

I come from a forest-products family. There are few enterprises that require more faith in the future and respect for the past. It is essential that existing, generations-old businesses are supported at this difficult time. It also is essential that young people in forestproducts families have the opportunity to live and prosper in the communities they love. As the industry continues to cope with the impact of the pandemic, I remain committed to pushing for direct assistance for our loggers.

and the economic pillar of rural communities across the country.

I want you to know – you have allies, fighting like hell for you in Washington. With a bipartisan group of Senators, including Senator Collins and Representative Golden, we are pushing for economic relief for the logging industry. We’ve introduced the Loggers Relief Act, which would provide direct aid to loggers, just as relief funds have been extended to farmers and other agricultural producers. At the same time, we’re pushing the Department of Agriculture to use its powers to make this type of aid immediately available.

I’ll keep you updated as our fight continues

and, as always, I’m here to help. If you have ideas or questions, please reach out to my team by visiting king.senate.gov. Take care, and be safe – we will get through this challenge, together.

Sen. Susan Collins

Sen. Angus King

For generations, logging has provided Mainers with good, reliable, and steady jobs that can support families, helping to bring about the middle class and thriving rural economies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically reduced demand for raw wood material consumption, leading to devastating impacts to the logging industry in Maine and across the country. A recent survey conducted by the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine found that 88 percent of survey respondents, who are loggers and forest truckers, have been negatively affected by the coronavirus crisis. Additionally, the Jay mill explosion and Sappi mill closures have caused hardships for Maine’s loggers this year. When the Sappi Paper Machine 9 closed and pulp production stopped at Pixelle’s Jay mill, it was a sobering reminder of the many struggles the logging industry faces.

Family logging businesses in Maine need support from policymakers at all levels of government. Congress must

It’s been a challenging six months for folks all across the Second District, but it’s been particularly tough for loggers. Stagnating prices for wood fiber are hitting the industry especially hard during COVID-19, and the explosion in Jay this past April put the jobs of many hardworking Mainers at risk. Maine loggers and truckers need serious action from Congress to make it through the coronavirus pandemic.

That’s why I have proposed legislation tailored specifically to loggers and logging small businesses. I told you last time about that bill – the Logger’ s Relief Act – which I was preparing to introduce with Congressman David Rouzer (NC-07). Well, we brought that bill in the House as planned, and Senator Susan Collins (RME) and Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) joined us in introducing companion legislation in the U.S. Senate.

The Loggers Relief Act would give the same kind of emergency relief that farmers and fishermen are getting during the coronavirus pandemic to loggers and truckers, too. Under the bill, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) would make low-interest loans available for folks in the logging industry who have been hit the hardest by COVID-19.

The bill is showing signs of momentum in both chambers of Congress. The Loggers Relief Act has 17 other bipartisan cosponsors in the House, including 11 Republicans. In the Senate, the bill has 5 additional cosponsors including Senator Angus King to help push it forward. I’ll keep working to get more Members of Congress on board, and to get that bill to the House floor.

step up to protect jobs within the logging industry and provide targeted, direct relief. Similar to the programs set up for farmers or fishermen, loggers should be eligible to receive direct relief from the federal government. That’s why I’ve cosponsored the Loggers Relief Act along with the rest of the Maine delegation.

This bipartisan, bicameral legislation would establish a new United States Department of Agriculture program to provide direct financial relief for this vital industry, which has experienced an estimated 20 percent drop in timber harvest due to the pandemic. Much like the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program for farmers, the Loggers Relief Act would provide direct payments to logging and log trucking businesses that can demonstrate they’ve experienced significant economic hardship compared to last year.

Our state’s logging industry employs around 9,000 Mainers, most of whom live in rural communities. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I will continue to prioritize federal funding to ensure these jobs exist far into the future. I hope House and Senate leaders incorporate the Loggers Relief Act in our next coronavirus relief bill because our rural economy relies on this industry.

Beyond the Loggers Relief Act, I’m still working hard to help all Maine small businesses, including the ones that belong to logging families. So, in July, I introduced the bipartisan RESTART Act

The RESTART Act is a lot like the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), offering loans to small businesses who need them, but with some key differences.

Specifically, it would allow small business owners more flexibility when choosing how to spend their loan, while still keeping them eligible for loan forgiveness. That means you could spend more of any loan you receive under RESTART on utility costs, payments on mortgages, and equipment. I am continuing to press House leadership to include the RESTART Act in a future COVID-19 relief package.

If you have suggestions about how I can work for you or your family here in Congress, or you need help navigating federal programs during the pandemic, we’re still available every week to hear from you.

If we can assist you, please contact one of my offices below:

▪ Bangor Office: 6 State Street, Bangor ME 04401. Phone: (207) 249-7400

▪ Caribou Office: 7 Hatch Drive, Suite 230, Caribou ME 04736. Phone: (207) 492-6009

▪ Lewiston Office: 179 Lisbon Street, Lewiston ME 04240. Phone: (207) 241-6767

▪ Washington Office: 1223 Longworth HOB, Washington DC 20515. Phone: (202) 225-6306

Please feel free to flag any questions or concerns you may have for me – and thank you!

Rep. Chellie Pingree

Rep. Jared Golden