Congressional Delegation Updates

As a Senator representing the most forested state in the nation, I am committed to supporting every link in the forest products supply chain. A new law I authored to provide $200 million in COVID-19 relief is helping to keep this vital industry strong.

The Loggers Relief Act that Congressman Golden and I introduced last year made timber harvesting and hauling businesses eligible for relief payments if they have experienced at least a 10 percent loss in revenue from January 1, 2020, through December 2020, as compared to the same timeframe in 2019. These direct payments will be equal to 10 percent of their gross revenue from 2019, with the funds to be used for operating expenses, including payroll.

We successfully pushed to include our legislation in the COVID-19 relief package that was signed into law in December. After our bill became law, however, another obstacle remained: the relief

COVID Relief for the Forest Products Industry

The coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic fallout have touched every facet of America– and Maine’s forest industry is unfortunately not immune to this crisis. The financial turmoil of the last 18 months has challenged the people, businesses, and communities that rely on our state’s timber industry, threatening to fundamentally alter the landscape of this storied sector. Generations of loggers have spent their lifetimes powering our state’s economy while providing for their families through booms and busts, which is why it is so important to protect and sustain this historic industry.

Last year, I joined Senator Collins and Representatives Pingree and Golden to introduce the Loggers Relief Act, legislation that would provide aid to logging and log hauling businesses significantly harmed by the pandemic. We worked together – Democrats, Republican, and Independent alike – and kept pushing for this fundamental aid. Our efforts paid off in December 2020, when the legislation was included in the year-end COVID legislative package. After being passed and signed into law, applications for Pandemic Assistance for Timber Harvesters and Haulers (PATHH) program funding was mired in bureaucracy, causing frustrating and unacceptable delays in delivering this critical financial assistance to the skilled professionals in the forest products industry. was opened in July of 2021. The fund includes $200 million to provide businesses with critical support to offset more than a year’s worth of hard losses.

We spearheaded an effort in Congress, working with our colleagues across party lines to pressure USDA to expedite the distribution of this much-needed funding. After sending multiple letters to the USDA Secretary, speaking with him directly, and raising the issue at congressional hearings, we are pleased to report that help is now on the way. USDA finally began accepting applications from loggers and log haulers on July 20.

As of mid-September, Maine harvesters and haulers had received more than $300,000, and Maine has the greatest number of applicants to the program in the country. This relief will provide crucial aid to an industry that is so vital to the people and communities in Maine and in many other states. I strongly encourage eligible Maine family logging and log hauling businesses to apply for the Pandemic Assistance to Timber Harvesters and Haulers (PATHH) program before the deadline on October 15th.

(If you’re reading this before October 15th, there may still be time to apply – go to farmers.com/pathh to learn more.)

The forest products industry has supported rural Maine families and communities for hundreds of years, and it’s imperative that foresters have the resources to continue building this legacy into the future. I want you to know that I’m with you. Your work has been invaluable for generations, and I intend to provide you with the tools you need to carry this proud legacy on for many more generations to come.

I’m pleased to join my colleagues in delivering these critical funds directly to the hardworking folks that need them – and I’ll keep working in Washington to support this industry in the days ahead.

For well over a year now, the logging and timber hauling industry has been facing serious challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, disasters like the mill explosion in Jay, and a changing 21st century economy. This heritage industry has supported good-paying jobs, driven local economies, and strengthened rural communities in Maine for generations. Mainers have always worked hard to overcome adversity, but I’ve heard repeatedly that professional contractors, many of whom are family run logging and hauling businesses, needed more support to weather these difficult times and continue to provide these critical benefits to our state. While other industries received dedicated relief funds early on in the pandemic, many timber harvesters and haulers weren’t able to get the same kind of help.

Now, that help is finally here. I worked with my colleagues in the Maine delegation to make sure the pandemic relief bill that passed last December finally included $200 million in relief funds for timber harvesters and haulers through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In July, I was proud to join Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to announce that the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) is now providing this critical support through the Pandemic Assistance for

A Win for Maine Loggers and Maine Service members

As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I spend a lot of time working to support shipbuilders at Bath Iron Works or Maine’s Air National Guard Wing flying therefueling missions out of Bangor, as well as using my experiences from when I served in the Marines to look for ways to better support our Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen.

But this year I was pleased to see an opportunity to do something that could be good for both our military and the forest products industry. Maine is home to a growing mass timber industry. Mass timber buildings have exceptional strength and stability, are cost-effective, and aresafe. Those characteristics make these wood products a great material for the military to build with to house service members. That’s why I recently introduced an amendment to the annual defense authorization bill that would create a pilot program at the Department of Defense to look at how these materials can be used for military housing. It’s a potential future partnership that could help expand the mass timber market in America and help to replace old and run-down housing that our service members and their families need to be upgraded.

My amendment was approved by the House Armed Services Committee as part of the National Defense

Timber Harvesters and Haulers Program (PATHH). PATHH will help eligible businesses that suffered a gross revenue loss of at 10 percent from Jan. 1 through Dec. 1, 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. Applications are being accepted through Oct. 15, 2021, so please don’t wait to see if you can receive assistance.

The FSA held a webinar on PATHH for operators in Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont in early September. The webinar, which was recorded and available to be watched at https://nrcs.box.com/s/ x74nepkpd02fuhi4yqe720spscgeqnwb, discussed PATHH eligibility requirements and how to sign up.

As we look forward to emerging from the pandemic, I’m also working hard to ensure that the forest products sector is ready to meet the challenge of climate change, be at the forefront of providing good, green jobs, and continue to thrive in our 21st century economy. As Chair of the House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, I’ll continue to support funding at the federal level to further these goals. In August, I also introduced the Community Wood Facilities Assistance Act (H.R. 5122) to support innovative wood products, sustainable wood-based energy systems, and wood product manufacturing facilities. Despite the recent challenges, there are bright moments ahead for Maine’s forest heritage industry and I’m proud to be your advocate in Washington to help realize these opportunities in Maine.

Authorization Act and it’s on its way to the House floor. We hope to have it passed into law by the end of the year.

October 15th Deadline for COVID-19 Loggers Relief Program

The application deadline for the USDA Pandemic Assistance for Timber Harvesters and Haulers (PAATH) program is October 15th. If you’re a logger or timber hauler and your business took a hit in 2020 because of COVID-19, you may be eligible for relief. Senator Collins and I wrote and helped pass the legislation to create this program last year to help loggers make it through the pandemic economy.

We’ve set up a team in my office to help answer your questions about the PAATH program and help you with your application. You can reach them at 207-241-6767 or MELoggerSupportTeam@mail.house.gov. More information about PAATH can be found at https://www.farmers.gov/ coronavirus/pandemic-assistance/pathh.

I look forward to hearing from you, as always. Please let us know if we can help you solve problems you or your family is having with Medicare, Social Security, the VA, or other federal programs or agencies.

You can reach my staff at:

● Lewiston: (207) 241-6767

● Caribou: (207) 492-6009

● Bangor: (207) 249-7400

You can also send us an email at: golden.house.gov/ contact/email-me

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.

Congressman Jared Golden visited the Mechanized Logging Operations Program Sept. 7. Students and instructors enjoyed talking with the Congressman about the program and appreciated his interest and the time he spent at the harvest site. The Congressman also got some seat time in the delimber and grapple skidder.