PLC Logger's Voice Winter 2019
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Congressional Delegation Update<br />
I am proud to come from a<br />
forest-products family. The S.W.<br />
Collins Company was founded in<br />
Caribou in 1844 as one lumber mill<br />
on the frontier. Five generations<br />
later, the company is still going<br />
strong. I grew up appreciating the<br />
contributions your industry makes<br />
to communities across our state and<br />
understanding the challenges you<br />
face.<br />
Sen. Susan Collins One significant challenge is<br />
developing a workforce to ensure<br />
that Maine’s heritage of family-owned logging businesses<br />
is strengthened for the years to come. That is why I<br />
strongly support the Future Logging Careers Act that<br />
would enable young people to learn to operate logging<br />
equipment safely through training and hands-on<br />
experience.<br />
This bipartisan legislation would amend the Fair<br />
Labor Standards Act of 1938 so that 16 and 17-year-olds<br />
would be allowed to work in mechanized logging<br />
operations under parental supervision. It would level the<br />
playing field for the logging trade with other agricultural<br />
fields by allowing family members to gain experience in<br />
logging from an earlier age so that they can pursue a<br />
rewarding career and carry on the family business.<br />
It is essential that existing, generations-old<br />
businesses be allowed to prepare the next generation for<br />
entry into the profession as experienced operators and<br />
business managers. Young people in forest-products<br />
families should have the opportunity to live and prosper<br />
in the communities they love. In addition to the key role<br />
they play in driving Maine’s rural economy, trained<br />
loggers have the skills and expertise to foster healthy,<br />
resilient forests.<br />
Maine’s working forests are an international<br />
model of successful, responsible ownership, where public<br />
and private interests are respected and shared by<br />
all. The Future Logging Careers Act will help to preserve<br />
this model and grow our<br />
economy.<br />
Don’t Be a Stranger<br />
As we look ahead to <strong>2019</strong>, I am grateful to have<br />
earned the trust of Maine people for an additional sixyear<br />
term in the Senate. The responsibility Maine voters<br />
have given me is something I take incredibly seriously,<br />
and I’m more energized than ever to work in Congress to<br />
make sure that Washington’s actions represent Maine’s<br />
priorities.<br />
Over the past six years, I’ve fought to strengthen<br />
the future of our forest economy in the face of rapid<br />
market shifts. As many pulp and paper mills and biomass<br />
power plants closed, Senator Collins and I urged the<br />
Commerce Department to establish the Economic<br />
Development Assessment Team (EDAT). Led by<br />
industry, this integrated, multiagency effort has brought<br />
together government and industry partners, as well as<br />
attract investments in new technologies including Cross<br />
Laminated Timber, biobased manufacturing, Combined<br />
Heat and Power, and more. By bringing people to the<br />
table, we can strengthen our existing forest products<br />
sector and foster innovation and commercialization in<br />
Maine’s forest economy.<br />
We’re already seeing the benefits: in recent<br />
months, several forest industry businesses have<br />
announced significant investments into Maine operations,<br />
and in September 2018, the Forest Opportunity Roadmap<br />
(FOR)/Maine released an action plan to make sure this<br />
industry, and the rural<br />
communities it supports, can<br />
continue to thrive for generations<br />
to come. But none of this work<br />
has been an individual effort. It’s<br />
always been collaborative, relying<br />
heavily on the input of people like<br />
you.<br />
So, as I look ahead to a<br />
new term in the Senate, I have a<br />
request for you: don’t be a<br />
stranger. I mean it. Throughout Sen. Angus King<br />
my time in Washington, I’ve<br />
received so much important guidance from members of<br />
the forest products industry; whether I hear from you<br />
during a visit to a mill, at an event in town, or through a<br />
letter to my office, your feedback is vital to making sure<br />
our policies are crafted with you in mind. If you have a<br />
problem or an idea for how we can make something work<br />
better, let me know at https://www.king.senate.gov/<br />
contact-home – at that link, you can write in to our office,<br />
or find the locations and phone numbers for our offices.<br />
I’ve got a terrific staff, both in Maine and in Washington,<br />
who are ready to continue the work we’ve started.<br />
Thank you all for your continued partnership, and<br />
for everything you do for our state. It’s an honor to<br />
represent you, and I’ll keep fighting hard on your<br />
behalf.<br />
36 Professional Logging Contractors of Maine Loggers Serving Loggers Since 1995
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