American Stimulus Package

“You can destroy your now by worrying about tomorrow” This Janis Joplin quote rings so true to me right now. She might have been talking about her drug addiction and hard partying life, but sometimes I think this logging business is much like an addiction. So, like Janis, we are going to just keep going and spend no time worrying. In another quote she says “There isn’t going to be any turning point. There isn’t going to be any next-month-it’ll-be-better, next year, next life. You don’t have any time to wait for.”

Randy and I are young in our career, but we have been around long enough to know the stories. We have spent any number of hours listening to the older, wiser, generation tell us that there is one thing you can count on in this business, it is that there will be good days, and there will be bad days. A lot of bad days. But you get up everyday, tighten your boot straps, grab your coffee, kiss your wife and kids, and try again. The Pixelle Mill explosion wiped out our market for softwood pulp, and the biomass market is always on the brink of extinction. Every market is tight. Everything is moving at a snails pace and if you are familiar with operating a business, production is key to making a profit. Most loggers have diversified due to current challenges we face and that is the secret to survival. I don’t know who is going to make it or who isn’t going to make it but the addiction is strong and loggers haven’t given up yet and they won’t until they are dead.

It is so challenging right now because we all are completely helpless, it feels. We are helpless to this virus that has stopped life in its tracks. And we are helpless in rebuilding Pixelle. It appears the government’s solution to everyone’s problems is to throw money at everyone. Regardless of political party, I think we can all agree that we would much rather make our own money and have the policies in place to support our own markets. I am very passionate about buying American made products when ever I can. I know when I buy my kids a handmade wooden toy that an American logger cut the wood, an American landowner got a return on her investment, and an American craftsman carved it with his own hands. I use paper bags at the grocery store, I buy diapers made with wood fiber harvested in North America. We try very hard to buy American made clothes, food grown down the road, and boots made in Maine. I am 100% certain that this is how you love your neighbor, how you support your country, and how we will ensure prosperity for all Americans. We may feel helpless, but this is one thing we CAN do.

Logging is ‘essential’ they said, along with farming, fishing, all things agriculture. But so is any job that puts food on your own table. So is self sufficiency. If it essential to your survival, then it is essential. My crazy, optimistic heart prays that the silver lining to these current challenges is that human kind finally re-realizes that a gallon of milk is worth more than a new iPhone every year, or financing atvs, boats, and motorcycles. I dream of factories restarting, less work from home jobs, more jobs where we MAKE something together. There is a pride in being a part of a team that creates something. Happy, productive lives lead to less illness, less violence, happy families, and strong communities. I’m not saying I am a saint. I don’t always practice what I preach but I do try. Recently a friend of ours saw on the news that loggers were struggling due to the coronavirus and the Jay mill and asked what she could do to help. My answer is simple: demand the products we create. Demand wood products, call companies and ask them where they source their wood fiber. Buy American as much as humanly possible. I understand that the diapers made from wood fiber in the USA cost a little more, I know jeans made in the US are very expensive (you don’t need 1000 pair) and I know it is a little inconvenient to go to 3 farm stands to get groceries. But if you want to help American’s struggling during these times then choose where you spend your money very wisely. If you’re trying to nickel and dime your farmer, your fisherman, and your firewood supplier but you happily order $600 a month of crap off Amazon don’t be surprised when your only option is to buy imported goods off the internet and all you can get is crap made in China, grown in Mexico, and drilled from the Middle East.