Welcome New Members

Warren Logging, LLC of Smithfield, ME joined the PLC as a new Contractor Member in February 2021. The company has a professional staff of two. For more information contact John or Jason at (207) 649-2568 or email jjwarrenlogging@gmail.com.

Ken Hebert & Son Inc. of Frenchville, ME joined the PLC as a new Forest Contractor Member in February of 2021. The company has a professional staff of two. For more information contact Ken at (207) 543-7367 or email herbert2000@ravemail.com.

R Ouellette & Son Logging Inc. of Wallagrass, ME joined the PLC as a new Affiliated Contractor Member in February of 2021. The company has a professional staff of one. For more information contact Ryan Ouellette at (207) 316-2916 or email ryan_ouellette@hotmail.com.

Haverlock Estey & Curran, CPA LLC of Hampden, ME joined the PLC as a new Supporting Member in January of 2021. Established in 1964, the company has been operating a successful public accounting practice for over 50 years. The firm's diverse clients range from the Aroostook County area into Greenville, Downeast to Machias and south to the Lewiston area. Clients range from construction contractors and farmers to physicians and attorneys. The firm also services non-profit organizations as well as Quasi-Municipal Organizations. For more information contact Vicki Vincent at (207) 659-8684, email vvincent@heccpa.com or visit https:// www.heccpa.com/

Maine Pellet Fuels Association joined the PLC in Jan. 2021 as a new Nonprofit Member. The Association is committed to a future of energy independence by helping the citizens of Maine and New England convert to economical, renewable, environmentally safe, and locally produced wood pellet fuel. The Association was founded in June 2008 as a non-profit corporation in Maine to promote the public benefit from utilizing pellets for heat and energy production, and to support pellet manufacturers and pellet industry suppliers in meeting common challenges. For more information contact Bill Bell at 207) 752-1392, email billbellmail@gwi.net, or go to mepfa.org

Maine Timber Research and Environmental Education Foundation (Maine TREE) of Augusta, ME joined the PLC as a new nonprofit Supporting Member in February of 2021. Maine TREE is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization based in Augusta, Maine. Its mission is to educate and advocate for the sustainable use of the forest and the ecological, economic, and social health of Maine’s forest community. It realizes its mission through research and education programs for schools, government, media, and the general public. Its partnerships with forest community members support programs for forest owners, woods workers, and recreational users. For more information visit mainetree.org or contact Jonathan LaBonte at (207) 621-9872 or jonathan@mainetree.org

the Executive Director

Spring Forward or Back?

By Dana Doran

Spring has sprung here in central Maine and it sounds like it is that way all across the state. While mud season is the end of winter, it is also a time for rest which seems to mean more in 2021 than previous years.

Folks are tired out there and I hear it in every one of our member’s voices when they have called in the past few weeks. The last year has been one of the most challenging in the history of Maine logging and I don’t think it’s done yet. It is definitely time to take a break from the woods, the trials and tribulations with markets, the long hours and from the Coronavirus.

As I write this newsletter, I just received some very positive news. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has officially included timber harvesters and haulers in its next round of funding for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). More news will be released soon as to how contractors can apply for relief, but this is progress related to what we have been working on for almost a year now.

As I’ve stated on numerous occasions, loggers are farmers too and anything that farmers have access to for aid should also be available for loggers.

A special thanks goes to the entire Maine Congressional Delegation, especially Senator Collins and Congressman Golden, for their continued leadership on the creation of this relief package and its implementation at USDA as this would not have happened without their leadership. Stay tuned as further details are released on the application process and eligibility, but it’s nice to know that recognition is here, and it is moving along.

Speaking of this federal aid, it certainly does bring up an interesting subject and one that I have been thinking about for quite some time – price suppression.

The day after then President Trump signed the Coronavirus Assistance legislation in late 2020, which included $200 million in relief for timber harvesters and haulers, I received a call from a mill wood buyer looking for information on when it would be available and how much would trickle into Maine. This call didn’t come from a supporting member of the PLC and I could tell that this person was looking more for information than to just pass along a simple congratulations. It was quite clear that they were probing for information on how much contractors might receive which in the end could save them money. I was infuriated by the call and every time a similar call comes into the office, the only people who are going to get an update are our members. This money is for no one else but contractors and others do not need this information unless they have plans to use it against the contractors and for their own gain.

As one of our Board members likes to say frequently when it comes to any legitimate advantage or savings that is given to contractors, “where the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Regardless of what the government might give you in tax relief, dealers might give you for rebates, or if fuel prices might drop, the people we work for will always find a way to take it from you. The only way that you stay profitable in this business is to be efficient and don’t tell anyone what you may be doing to save money.”

I was not in this position when the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) was promoted by USDA a little more than a decade ago, but I have heard the horror stories. In fact, anytime that BCAP comes up as a positive

Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W) Lands Management biologist Eric Hoar has worked with a lot of logging contractors in his 25 years in the woods, and over time he has seen the professionalism in the industry continue to rise.

“The level of service that loggers provide these days is steadily improving,” Eric said. “They’re very concerned about the quality of the work that they do and keenly aware that their name is on every piece of equipment that they own.”

In recent years, Eric has also noted a rise in the number of Maine contractors certified as Master Loggers by the Northeast Master Logger Certification program. The Master Logger companies IF&W has worked with on timber harvests have done good work, and this has led the department to consider certification a plus when a company is seeking jobs on its lands.

IF&W owns about 108,000 acres of land spread across Maine. When you subtract wetlands about half of those are accessible upland acres where the department manages terrestrial habitat for wildlife, and that management often includes timber harvesting.

Not every harvesting job the department puts out to bid going forward will give extra points for Master

Logger certification, but many will. As a public agency, Inland Fisheries and Wildlife still has a responsibility to provide the entire contracting community an opportunity to bid, so a variety of criteria will appear in different bid packages, Eric said.

“I think I’ll include it in a lot of jobs, but I won’t say I’ll include it in every job,” Eric said. “Good loggers don’t have to look for work, work finds them because they have a good reputation, and that’s definitely something that I think the Master Logger program brings to the business.”

Maine has a higher percentage of Master Loggers than any other state, and the majority are also members of the Professional Logging Contractors (PLC) of Maine. Two of these companies - William A. Day Jr. & Sons, Inc. in Porter and Grady Forest Products in Whitefield - worked on IF&W timber harvests this winter. Both companies have worked on public lands before, and agreed the work comes with unique challenges.

Grady Forest Products is a three-man crew made up of Steve Grady and his sons, Jamison and Jordan. The trio spent much of the winter working a 600-acre harvest at the Gene Letourneau (Frye Mountain) Wildlife Management Area, a 5241-acre piece of land located in the towns of Montville, Knox and part of Morrill in Waldo County.