Forest Products_Expo 2023

WELCOME TO THE LOGGERS’ EXPO 2023

By Katie Smith

Spring is in the air and it’s an odd year which means it’s Bangor, Maine’s turn to host the Loggers’ Expo. The expo is held in Maine every other year, alternating with Essex Junction, Vermont.

On the weekend of May 19-20, the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor will be hosting this year’s event. Doors will open at 9 a.m. and the admissions fee is $10 at the door — children under 16 get in free. There is also free parking provided by Hollywood Slots Casino, which is located across the street from the Cross Center.

Show Manager Joe Phaneuf is extremely excited about the show’s hosts this year. “The Loggers’ Expo has been coming to Bangor, Maine for almost 40 years — and we’ve always felt welcome by the city. The Cross Insurance Center is the perfect venue for our show, with pristine inside exhibit space and spacious outside space. The venue is very well managed, and the city of Bangor should be extremely proud of this facility.”

The Expo has typically been a place where buyers and sellers of the forest industry equipment come together to do business and mix and mingle with their peers, which is important as their jobs involve a lot of solo time. However, you don’t have to be a logger to come and enjoy all the live demonstrations and displays which will be inside and outside.

So, if you are looking to get out of the house and learn more about wood or how loggers’ work, you must stop in to explore all the exhibits have to offer. You will be able to meet with forest industry leaders and check out the tools and supplies for homeowners.

The Loggers’ Expo typically features about 200 exhibiting companies and draws in about 5,000 to 7,000 attendees. This year, Phaneuf says the Expo will be closer to “normal” than it

has been the last few years, and everyone is super thankful for that as it will allow for more live events.

“We’ll have lots of big in-woods equipment on display from the major manufacturers, there’ll be firewood processing and portable sawmill demonstrations, grinders, chippers and shaving machines on display, lots and lots of trucks and trailers, and plenty of chainsaws and protective gear. In other words, just about anything that might be used in working with wood from the stump to finished product will be on display at this show,” says Phaneuf.

Different people will get excited about different exhibitors, of course, but some of the highlights will include: United Construction and Forestry, Milton-CAT, Anderson Equipment, Frank Martin Sons, Whited Peterbilt of ME, O’Connor Motors, Manac.

“There will be many more there and each has their own story,” says Phaneuf.

Another highlight for the Expo is having the Maine Forest and Logging Museum join in the fun this year, along with several Maine sawmills who “always do a great job of explaining the dynamics of the forest products industry to interested attendees,” says Phaneuf.

The Loggers’ Expo is mainly focused on the forest products and tree care industries but the show will have something for anyone. If you are a homeowner who processes your own firewood, have a wood boiler heating your home, or you simply want to come and learn more about the wood industry, make sure to mark this event on your calendar and bring the entire family. You will all leave with more knowledge about what sort of equipment is used out in the woods, and as Phaneuf says, “It’s certainly a far cry from axes and horses.”

WHEN & WHERE

Friday, May 19 and Saturday, May 20. Doors open at 9 a.m. at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

FEE & PARKING

$10 per person, kids under 16 are free. Free parking across the street at the Hollywood Slots Casino.

WHAT TO EXPECT

With 200 exhibiting companies, it’s a great place for the public to come and learn about the industry. Enjoy lots of displays of big woods equipment and live demonstrations. And learn about the Maine Forest and Logging Museum.

MAJOR EXHIBITORS

United Construction and Forestry, Milton-CAT, Anderson Equipment, Frank Martin Sons, Whited Peterbilt of ME, O’Connor Motors, Manac

LOG A LOAD FOR MAINE KIDS RAISES RECORD DONATION

Courtesy of Professional Logging Contractors of Maine

The Professional Logging Contractors (PLC) of Maine raised a record $262,403 for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals in Maine in 2022 through its annual Log A Load for Maine Kids fundraising efforts. The total shattered the previous record set in 2021 of $205,000, with the PLC’s two Log A Load golf tournaments and the Log A Load live auction at the PLC’s annual membership meeting each hitting new highs in 2022.

“It is incredibly inspiring that despite the many challenges facing Maine’s logging industry, PLC’s Members, Supporting Members, friends, and families have rallied to once again raise a record amount for Children’s Miracle Network hospitals,” Dana Doran, Executive Director of the PLC, said. “No matter what obstacles they encounter in their own businesses and lives, they always reach deep for the kids and their families.”

Doran presented a check for the funds to representatives from Northern Light/ Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor and The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center in Portland. The check was presented at the PLC’s office in Augusta. Those accepting the check on behalf of the hospitals were Kelly Pearson, Director of the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital program and

Corporate Engagement at Northern Light Health, and Kate Richardson, Children’s Miracle Network Senior Philanthropy Manager for Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital (BBCH).

“The logging community continues to amaze us. We are touched by their generosity and compassion. The dollars raised make a real difference in the care our doctors and nurses provide to local kids. Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center has used the funds to support programs and services, and purchase equipment like a new ambulance and an ultrasound machine, as well as comfort items like new stuffed animals. On behalf of our patients, their families, and the team that cares for them, thank you,” Pearson said.

“It’s difficult to express the lifesaving impact that this industry is having on our local children’s hospitals. It’s evident that there is a deep-rooted commitment among members of the logging industry to support their community and help their neighbors — and that’s exactly what they’re doing by ensuring that our kids have access to the very best care, right here in Maine. I’m constantly amazed and deeply grateful for the tireless efforts and remarkable generosity of Maine’s logging community,” Richardson said.

The PLC raises the majority of Log A Load funds during an auction at its annual membership meeting in the spring and at golf tournaments in Lovell and Lincoln in August and September. Some additional funds are raised through the sale of items including holiday ornaments and through end of year donations.

The PLC’s Log A Load efforts have now raised more than $1.925 million since 1995. In addition to setting records at both golf tournaments this year, the PLC Annual Meeting Log a Load for Maine Kids Auction also set a record, raising $144,399.

The PLC and the Northern Light Health Foundation (formerly Eastern Maine Health Systems Foundation) have partnered in the Log A Load fund-raising effort since 1996. Donations have gone to support research and training, purchase equipment, and pay for uncompensated care, all in support of the mission to save and improve the lives of as many children in Maine as possible. Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor is a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital and includes a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit that has received support for years from the PLC’s Log A Load efforts.

The PLC partners with The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center in Portland for the southern tournament.

The South Carolina Forestry Association started the Log A Load for Kids program in 1988. Originally, the concept was for loggers, wood-supplying businesses, and other industry supporters in various states including Maine to donate the value of a load of logs to their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Nationally, Log A Load for Kids is a leader in CMN Hospitals’ fundraising, raising more than $2 million annually through golf tournaments, fishing events, dinners, truckloads of log donations and other events.

For more information, please visit www.logaload.org.

Maine’s loggers are a vital part of the state’s forest products sector, which is worth an estimated $7.7 billion annually. Logging contributed an estimated $619 million to the state economy in 2017. Founded in 1995 with a handful of members who were concerned about the future of the industry, the PLC has grown steadily to become a statewide trade association which provides independent logging contractors a voice in the rapidly changing forest products industry. Board membership consists of only loggers, making it an organization that is run by loggers on behalf of loggers. PLC members are responsible for cutting 75 percent of the timber that is harvested from Maine’s forests annually.

Learn more about the PLC at www.maineloggers.com.

FIFTEEN LOGGING FIRMS FROM THREE STATES ACHIEVE MASTER LOGGER® CERTIFICATION

Courtesy of The Trust to Conserve Northeast Forestlands

The Trust to Conserve Northeast Forestlands (TCNEF) announced in February that 15 logging firms in Maine, New York, and Vermont have achieved Master Logger certification after meeting the rigorous standards for professionalism and responsible timber harvesting required by the Master Logger Certification Program®.

The Maine firms are A & A Brochu, Inc. of Dover-Foxcroft; Babineau Logging Inc. of West Enfield; Corey Harper Logging, Inc. of Mattamiscontis; D & T Logging, Inc. of West Enfield; Hinds Selective Wood Harvesting of Wayne; J. Guimond Logging, Inc. of Fort Kent Mills; JG Logging of Fort Kent; North Shore Logging, Inc. of Allagash; RJ Gilbert of Brighton; SYL-VER Logging of Fort Kent Mills; and T Condon Timber Harvesting of Ashland.

The New York firms are Bill Camp Logging of Fort Ann; Day’s Timber Harvesting of Averill Park; and Sweeney’s Tree and Land Management, LLC of Petersburg.

The Vermont firm is Mike Hammer and Sons, LLC of Whitingham.

The 15 firms were officially certified on Jan. 5 and have been notified by TCNEF. With the addition of these firms there are currently 136 Master Logger companies in the Northeast.

“This is a great achievement for these contractors and a testament to their hard work and professionalism,” Ted Wright, Executive Director of TCNEF, said. “Master Loggers are critical to the future forest economy, and it is companies like these that are setting the standard for the industry as it adapts to increasing demand for responsible forest stewardship and certified wood fiber.”

The Master Logger Certification Program® was created in 2001 as the

first in the world point-of-harvest certification program, offering independent third-party certification of logging companies’ harvesting practices. In 2003, the TCNEF took over administration of the program with the broader goal of “enhancing the health of working forest ecosystems through exceptional accountability” throughout the Northern Forest region, which includes New England and New York.

The program’s primary goal is to keep a thriving and sustainable forest products industry in place throughout New England. To do this, Master Logger established nine goals with forest ecosystem sustainability, worker safety and forest economy sustainability in mind.

These nine goals guide Master Loggers in their work: Document Harvest Planning, Protect Water Quality, Maintain Soil Productivity, Sustain Forest Ecosystems, Manage Forest Aesthetics, Ensure Workplace Safety, Demonstrate Continuous Improvement, Ensure Business Viability, and Uphold Certificate Integrity. There are detailed harvest responsibilities with explicit performance standards under each goal.

Field verifiers visit actual harvest sites to determine whether candidates for Master Logger Certification are meeting or exceeding the standards required for certification. Their findings are submitted to an independent, regional board that makes the final decision on whether a company will be certified.

Once certified, Master Loggers are subject to regular recertification audits to ensure performance continues to meet the standard. The Master Logger program is audited yearly by the global certifying body Preferred by Nature, which randomly selects companies for field audits and reviews group documents. These audits identify strengths and areas for improvement and are used to continuously improve the program. For more information on the Master Logger program or TCNEF, contact Ted Wright

OUTDOOR DISPLAY

Note: diagram not to scale and relative positions of display areas are not precise.

ARENA DISPLAY

CONCOURSE DISPLAY & VENDORS