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.