Mild Winter Hits Northern Logging Contractors

Log Yard Upgrade Should Be Helpful

According to a reportin Louisiana Logger newsletter, WestRockis investing $97 million to upgrade its mill in Hodge, La., which includes log yard upgrades that should reduce log truck turnaround time.

Loggers will be especially interested in the two new radial cranes that will replace a single linear crane that will essentially double the rate that log trucks can be unloaded.

The upgrade will increase the capacity of chips made at the mill site, and new equipment will allow logs to be chipped more efficiently as WestRock replaces an outdated slasher process with a state-of-the-art long log system.

Texas Convicts Second Suspect For Timber Theft

Loggers across the northern U.S. are taking a hit from a mild winter that hasn’t frozen the ground in many areas, reducing access to cold weather sites and cutting into production due to lost time. The impacts of warming winters are affecting all segments of the northern economy, from ski slopes to loggers to even maple syrup producers who rely on cool weather. Some loggers are simply parked till it freezes; some are still working in tough conditions that will likely require expensive post-harvest cleanup.

These reports are coming through the first half of February, and this winter no region of the Northern U.S. has seen extended frozen “normal” logging conditions. Even the Bangor Daily News took note of the weather conditions in an editorial titled “Mud season should not be happening in January.”

Professional Logging Contractors of Maine Executive Director Dana Doran said 2022-23 is “One of the worst winters in modern history for loggers here in Maine.” Record rainfall in October and November led to freezing temperatures never showing up and the ground hasn’t frozen, he says.

To make matters worse, a solid three feet of snow in January has acted as an insulating blanket on the ground, pretty much eliminating this year’s winter freeze-up. Into mid February, with roller-coaster temps in the 40s and 50s, road postings are starting to begin and log hauling will be restricted on all but main state roads.

Doran says that from an operational perspective, “This has shut down crews for days and weeks at a time, during what is supposed to be the most profitable and most operable time of year. Mud season has landed early and there’s no telling what might happen from here until April 1. Mills are empty across the state and contractor bank accounts are low.”

Chris Brochu with AA Brochu Logging says the unseasonably warm weather is having a major impact on operations. “We have 16 crews operating and we estimate we are down 20-30%,” he says, noting he’s hearing much the same from other loggers and landowners that output is down around 30%.

He adds that the lack of frozen ground has forced companies to change their cut plans, and mills are running on reduced hours or taking downtime.

The second of three log truck drivers indicted in a timber theft investigation in Liberty County, Tex. was convicted in January, following a guilty plea in May 2022 by the first suspect. Convictions so far have led to more than $15,000 in fines and orders of more than $100,000 in restitution. The case against the third suspect is still pending.

The thefts occurred in 2019. According to Texas A&M Forest Service law enforcement investigators, the three drivers were linked to illegal timber sales through a third-party contract. The drivers obtained a fraudulent bill of sale to present to the sawmill and falsified entries in their delivery logbooks. Their employer became suspicious of their activities and called investigators.

Vaagen Closes Midway But Maintains Hope

Vaagen Fibre Canada (an affiliate of Vaagen Brothers Lumber) announced it is shutting down its Midway, BC sawmill indefinitely, while indicating it is looking for solutions to keep the operation going, and encouraging those impacted throughout the Boundary, West Kootenay, and Okanagan regions to appeal to the Ministry of Forests.

The company said that on January 5 it informed the dedicated mill staff of 85 employees, as well as nearly 100 contractors, vendors, and/or suppliers know that it will be shutting down the Midway mill. “Although the news we are sharing is not good news, we are steadfastly committed to continue to look for solutions for every possible way forward,” the company states.

Vaagen Fibre Canada is a non-tenured mill and has been operating in Midway without forest tenure for the past 10 years. As a non-tenured mill, it does not have forest licenses to manage Crown forests, which means it must purchase all logs on the open market including the procurement of logs from local private landowners and woodlot owners.

“Although our team has been creative for years in finding logs to run our mill, there are a few challenges that have compounded for us, and without resolution, the future of our operation is uncertain. This is an access to wood fiber at market price issue,” the company states. “We have put forward several solutions to the Ministry of Forests to help us reopen Vaagen Fibre Canada.”

The company noted that in 2008, Pope & Talbot, the previous owner of the mill, closed the mill, but the com- munity rallied to save the mill, which Vaagen purchased.

“We encourage you to respectfully email MLA (Member Legislative Assembly) Roly Russell, who is also the Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Development. Let him know how important the mill is to our communities and ask him to bring the voice of the people forward to the Minister of Forests to find solutions to help Vaagen Fibre Canada reopen.”

Study Confirms Forest Carbon Neutrality

Enviva Inc. and U.S. Industrial Pellet Assn. (USIPA) praised a recent study, “Impacts of the U.S. Southeast Wood Pellet Industry on Local Forest Carbon Stocks, published in the scientific journal, Nature, and confirming that the wood pellet industry has met the overall condition of forest carbon neutrality in the U.S. Southeast between 2000 and 2019.

According to theInternational Energy Agency (IEA), if harvest volumes (for