Exciting News for the Forest Products Industry!

“EPA Announces Plan to Classify Wood-Based Power as Carbon Neutral.” “The Maine Technology Institute (MTI) Awards $1.5 Million in its Emerging Technology Challenge for Maine’s Forest Resources.” Like we say in Maine, “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute, it will change. I’m pretty certain we saw a bit of every season over the last week or so. From a legit snow storm on Monday, a beautiful summer-like day on Saturday, heavy rain mixed in there some where, and now all I see outside are all the leaves on the ground that I didn’t manage to rake before the snow fell this winter. That about covers it. Ok, so back to my analogy. We may be fairly young relative to most folks in the logging business but we have already seen how quickly doom and gloom can turn into excitement and innovation. It wasn’t long ago we all thought the pulp industry was done. Then the biomass was done. Hang around any logger’s garage and we were all going to be starving any day and sending our equipment back to the banks. I’m certainly not saying that things are BOOMING…. yet. But it’s right there. It’s so close I can taste it. We are about the experience some wicked cool things in this industry! I love opening my e-mails to the various newsletters and such describing the newest technologies or policy changes. With biomass qualifying as carbon neutral, I see all the more reason to support American renewable energy. I hope to live to see the day that our country and state are energy independent. As loggers, our part is to commit to sustainable practices that ensure continued growth of our forests. We continue to chip tree tops and low value wood for biomass power. For the landowner, this provides an additional source of income on their harvested wood and leaves a cleaner lot for their enjoyment.