Forest Resources

Background

The Maine Forest Service reports that Maine forests are being sustainably managed, with growth exceeding use by a small percentage; that 42% of Maine’s productive timberland is in a third party certification program; and that 55% of Maine’s annual harvest comes from certified sources.

Maine mills are seeking ways to reduce their use of fossil fuel by using woody biomass to co-generate heat and power at their facilities. This is a much more efficient use of Maine’s renewable wood resource than burning the wood in a stand-alone electrical generating facility. Mills are also looking to obtain more value from the fiber used in pulping or biomass.

Legislative Issues

MPPA opposes incentives that unequally favor one use of wood over another, financial credits that subsidize biomass generation of electricity used on the grid but not biomass generation of power for use in manufacturing, or the promotion of wood for energy at the expense of forest sustainability.

MPPA supports state efforts to increase the amount of forestland that is in a third party certification program. The MFS forest inventory is a critical component of this effort.

Due to changes in federal and state immigration policy, Maine can no longer rely on a decades old tradition of using Canadian wood harvesters where no American loggers are available.

Federal law prohibiting trucks weighing more than 80,000 pounds from using the interstate highway system in Maine was temporarily changed in 2009-2010, allowing trucks up to 97,000 pounds to use the interstate as well as Maine’s back roads (the only roads on which they could previously travel). This makes the law for Maine consistent with that in many other states and Canada, and allows for safer and more efficient transportation of goods. MPPA urges Congress to reinstate this change on a permanent basis.