ARKANSAS
Logging production fall off due to COVID-19 impacts (Pine Bluff Commercial; 6/9/2020)
Arkansas timber industry facing long-term perils from COVID-19 (Talk Business & Politics; 5/17/2020)
“Fewer housing starts, and fewer tree plantings because of migrant labor restrictions are two ways the COVID-19 pandemic slowed economy may affect the Arkansas timber industry…”
Arkansas timber industry's COVID-19 recovery likely to be slow (Magnolia Reporter; 5/12/2020)
“No construction means orders for lumber fall, mills saw fewer logs, and less standing timber is bought and harvested.”
Forestry Industry Sees Economic Hit Due To COVID-19 (KUAR, 4/10/2020)
“With the logging industry just coming out of its wet season, Pelkki said the coronavirus has further delayed any possible work, causing job loss and unemployment. Additionally COVID-19 is impacting employers in the forest industry in the form of recruitment.”
KENTUCKY
Relief needed for Kentucky loggers impacted by COVID-19 (Kentucky New Era, 7/14/2020)
“Unfortunately, COVID-19 continues to impact this important sector of our economy, particularly loggers and log trucking. According to the Kentucky Center for Statistics, our state’s logging industry has weathered a 35% decline since the same time last year.
Relief needed for Kentucky loggers impacted by COVID-19 (Times Tribune, 7/15/2020)
“Loggers throughout the country are feeling similar economic impacts from COVID-19. That’s why we are calling on Congress to provide this sector some form of “bridge” relief.”
Relief needed for loggers impacted by COVID-19 (7/14/2020; Ledger Independent)
“According to the Kentucky Center for Statistics, our state’s logging industry has weathered a 35 percent decline since the same time last year.”
LOUSIANA
Unprecedented Times for the Louisiana Timber Industry (Louisiana Loggers Association; 9/25/2020)
MAINE
Maine lawmakers seek help for local logging industry (WMTW, 7/22/2020)
“Some loggers have said they don't plan to return to the woods this summer for the first time ever and industry leaders say many will go out of business without help.”
Maine loggers welcome fed relief bill as industry struggles (Mainebiz; 7/22/2020)
“During the pandemic, the industry in Maine suffered another setback in April when an explosion at the Androscoggin Mill in Jay shut the facility down temporarily and reduced its capacity upon reopening.”
Coronavirus and papermaking woes bring tough times to Maine’s logging industry (Press Herald; 7/20/2020)
“A recent survey of members found that 88 percent have been hurt financially by the pandemic, with over 40 percent projecting devastating losses for the year of at least 20,000 tons of lumber.”
Logging contractors in Maine face downfall after mill layoffs (WABI-5 TV; 7/13/2020)
“…the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine says nearly two thirds of contractors are facing revenue loss and uncertainty with their business moving forward.”
Closures at paper mills in Westbrook, Jay will eliminate 134 jobs (Mainebiz; 7/10/2020)
“In Maine, the announcement is the latest blow to the state’s logging industry which, as a result of the pandemic, has seen declining demand for wood from mills and resulting low prices and quotas.”
Federal COVID-19 relief package for logging, trucking companies deserves support (Press Herald; 6/24/2020)
MARYLAND
ALC Backs Federal Legislation to Provide Economic Relief for Family Logging Businesses (Kake; 7/28/2020)
MINNESOTA
Forest products market: Loggers knock on wood (Business North; 6/10/2020)
“The market has become so uncertain that some loggers have been forced to lay off employees, said Dane. But state unemployment benefits, coupled with $600 per week payments from the federal government, may make it tough for some loggers to get employees back to work when the market rebounds, said Dane.”
Logging Industry Professionals Weighing Options Amid COVID-19 Related Setbacks (Fox21-Local; 6/28/2020)
Duluth layoffs stack up, adding challenges for region's future (Duluth News Tribune; 6/20/2020)
“The situation among loggers and truckers demonstrates the cascading effects just one closure in Duluth can have on the region.”
MISSISSIPPI
Mississippi Logging Industry Challenged in 2020 (Mississippi Market Bulletin; 7/15/2020)
“The COVID-19 pandemic has been the final blow to many logging and log trucking businesses in the state.”
MONTANA
Montana timber industry braces for pandemic effects (Missoulian; 6/21/2020)
“We dropped in half in a matter of two weeks,” said Julia Altemus of the Montana Wood Products Association.
Daines Successfully Secures Two Year Extension for Montana Timber Contracts During the Coronavirus Pandemic (Press Release; 4/15/2020)
NEW HAMPSHIRE
NH forest-products industry lumbers on amid COVID, other challenges (Keene Sentinel; 6/25/2020)
Senator hears about lack of markets for low-grade wood (“Conway Daily Sun”; 7/13/2020)
“If there is less wood being cut, Stock said the effect is felt by loggers like Roger Garland of North Conway. Garland, who has logged since 1975, said his logging operation has been on a downward slope for the last six years. Where he once had 50 employees, he is now down to 12.”
NORTH CAROLINA
Industry needs help to weather COVID-19 impact (Fayetteville Observer; 6/23/2020)
COVID-19 impacts the $33.6 Billion wood economy (WNCT; 4/3/2020)
OREGON
Pandemic impacts local forestry and logging industries (The World; 5/30/2020)
SOUTH CAROLINA
S.C. timber industry sees highs and lows because of COVID-19 pandemic (WRDW; 5/21/2020)
Forestry industry in South Carolina experiencing highs and lows because of the COVID-19 pandemic (WIS News 10, 5/20/2020)
“Crawford said this also impacts the logging force in the state. ‘Those guys are working to 30 to 60 percent capacity. When you're talking about your logging force -- those are real men and women and they cannot take a dip in work like that for very long.’”
South Carolina's forestry industry takes hit from COVID-19 (Cola Daily; 5/4/2020)
“Recent mill closures have decreased the number of production outlets for pulpwood and solid wood, both of which are essential to the industry's overall success. Hane estimates that his company's clients are receiving an estimated 33 percent less in revenues from red oak stumpage than they did last year.”
TENNESSEE
Domtar Ashland plan to shutter paper machine work in Ashdown (Talk Business; 8/7/2020)
VERMONT
Grants aim to develop new markets for Northern Forest wood (Vermontbiz.com; 6/25/2020)
“Market changes due to the coronavirus pandemic and the recent loss of a pulp-making facility in Jay, Maine, have left landowners, loggers and wood product manufacturers in northern New England seeking new markets for harvested wood.”
VIRGINIA
Federal COVID-19 relief package for logging and trucking companies deserves support (Richmond Times-Dispatch; 7/27/2020)
“A recent survey of the membership of the Virginia Loggers Association (VLA), the state’s trade association for loggers and forest truckers, found that an estimated 90% percent of respondents have been negatively impacted by the pandemic.”
WEST VIRGINIA
Hard times for hardwoods (Daily Mail WV; 3/27/2020)
“Then came the coronavirus….The virus and its impact on workers there was as bad as reports say.”
WISCONSIN
Verso shutdown would have devastating impact on forestry, trucking, construction industries (Wisconsin Rapids Tribune; 7/21/2020)
“The implications of the Verso mills shutting down goes much further than the mill workers and cities of Wisconsin Rapids and Duluth…This has the potential to negatively alter the course of forest management in Wisconsin and all the abundant benefits our healthy forests provide.”
County discusses impact of Verso shutdown (Star News, 7/8/2020)
“…if new markets emerge and there aren’t any loggers, that’s going to hurt the county and the health of the forest in the long run.”
OTHER
Collins Requests Pandemic Emergency Funds for Nation’s Loggers & Log Haulers (The Ripon Advance; 9/22/2020)
Timber industry asks Congress for $2.5B in COVID-19 aid (E&E News, 7/22/2020)
“While home improvements and demand for paper packaging have increased during the pandemic, giving the industry a boost, the biggest piece of the U.S. industry — lumber used in construction and home renovations — has been hard hit.”
Opinion: Invest in loggers and save the supply chain (Woodworking Network; 6/24/2020)
Loggers Ask Congress for Pandemic Relief (Timberline Magazine; 7/1/2020)
“Sawmills and other mills that use wood have cut back on buying logs as a result of reduced or lost markets during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ripple effect has been a reduction in the amount of wood fiber being sourced from the forest by small, family-owned logging and log trucking businesses.”