PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 20, 2020
Even for an industry known for difficult labor without great rewards, these are particularly hard times for Maine’s loggers. Wood prices were low going into a winter that was relatively brief and mild, which made it hard for loggers to harvest trees – long stretches of cold to freeze the ground solid is best for getting heavy equipment in and out of the woods, while tearing up soft soil can mean fines for environmental damage or stuck machinery. Then the coronavirus hit and demand dropped further as orders to paper mills were canceled and shipments of wood pulp to Asia scuttled when paper plants halfway around the world closed their doors.