It's been a tough summer for New Hampshire sawmills. Two of the state's largest mills closed their doors, perhaps for good. Some call it a "slump," some call it a "hiccup," but there's little doubt that the closures are symptomatic of threats to the timber industry as a whole.
New Hampshire Public Radio's Doug MacPherson has more.
IN THE TOWN OF BARNSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE, POPULATION 39-HUNDRED, TIMCO SAWMILL HAS BEEN THE LARGEST EMPLOYER FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY. UNTIL A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO.
PHONE TAPE: [RING] FEMALE VOICE: thank you for calling Timco [CLICK] MALE VOICE: timco is closed and no longer in business. If you are calling about accounts payable or receivable, please contact Regina?..
OVER IN WOODSVILLE, DAVIDSON INDUSTRIES, FORMERLY NEWMAN LUMBER, CLOSED ITS DOORS IN JULY ? DOORS THAT FIRST OPENED IN 1932. FOR GENERATIONS, SAWMILLS ? ESPECIALLY WHITE PINE SAWMILLS -- HAVE BEEN A STAPLE OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE ECONOMY. THE WHITE PINE INDUSTRY EXTENDS BACK TO COLONIAL TIMES, WHEN THE TALLEST, STRAIGHTEST PINES WERE CLAIMED FOR THE KING TO BECOME MASTS FOR THE ROYAL NAVY -- HENCE THE TERM ?KING?S PINES?. AS RECENTLY AS THE LATE 1990?S, NEW HAMPSHIRE PRODUCTION OF WHITE PINE SOARED. SO WHAT HAPPENED TO TIMCO AND DAVIDSON INDUSTRIES?
TAPE JASON STOCK 024 they were more or less stuck in the middle between two very competitive markets.
JASON STOCK IS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE TIMBERLAND OWNERS ASSOCIATION.
TAPE STOCK One for the raw ingredient, which are the logs, and the second is for the lumber sales. Prices for logs continued to go up, but the prices for the lumber, what they could get for the lumber, continued to go down.
LUMBER PRICES ARE DOWN DUE TO FOREIGN COMPETITION. WALK IN TO A & B LUMBER IN CONCORD, ASK TO SEE A TWO-BY-FOUR, AND YOU?LL BE HANDED A PIECE OF WOOD GROWN AND MILLED IN THE CZECK REPUBLIC.
NEW HAMPSHIRE MILLS MUST COMPETE WITH CANADA, EASTERN EUROPE, CHILE: COUNTRIES IN WHICH LABOR AND ENERGY COSTS ARE MUCH LOWER, AND INSURANCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION MAY BE NON-EXISTENT.
ON THE FLIP SIDE, MILLS ARE PAYING MORE FOR RAW LOGS. THERE?S A SHORTAGE OF LOGS BECAUSE THERE?S A SHORTAGE OF PEOPLE TO CUT THE TREES.
STOCK SAYS THE TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF THE BERLIN MILLS DROVE MANY LOGGERS OUT OF BUSINESS.
TAPE JASON STOCK 378 a lot of working capital was drawn out of the industry because of the lack of payment for wood and all the rubber checks and all those issues, plus that market -- that was half of the state?s low grade wood market, vanished -- So it was a one-two punch that we?re still feeling.
STOCK SAYS WHILE HIGHER PRICES FOR TREES ARE BEGINNING TO DRAW PEOPLE BACK INTO THE INDUSTRY, THE CHANGE IS SLOW.
TAPE JASON STOCK 359 in years past, a guy or gal with a chain saw and a pickup truck ? you were in the logging business. Now it?s millions of dollars to get into it. And to encourage those people to get back into it, it takes a lot more time because there?s a lot more capital that needs to be expended, a lot more planning that needs to occur.
STOCK SAYS FOR EXAMPLE, A MODERN SKIDDER ? BASICALLY, A SPECIAL TRACTOR USED TO PULL LOGS OUT OF THE WOODS ? COSTS MORE THAN A-HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.
FOREST INDUSTRY EXPERTS SAY THERE IS NO OBVIOUS QUICK FIX FOR
NEW HAMPSHIRE SAW MILLS. THEY?VE ALREADY INVESTED HEAVILY IN TECHNOLOGY. THE STATE?S 10-LARGEST SAW MILLS HAVE POURED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTO COMPUTER AND LASER GUIDED EQUIPMENT THAT HELP THEM DERIVE EVERY OUNCE OF SALEABLE PRODUCT FROM EVERY LOG.
NEVER-THE-LESS, NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE FORESTER PHIL BRYCE SAYS SEVERAL FACTORS MAKE HIM OPTIMISTIC. BRYCE SAYS NEW HAMPSHIRE HAS PLENTY OF TREES, THERE IS DEMAND FOR THEM, AND THEY ARE A RENEWABLE RESOURCE. AND, BRYCE SAYS, NEW HAMPSHIRE HAS THE RIGHT PEOPLE.
TAPE PHIL BRYCE 309 the folks in the forest products industry are very hard working, and they?ve been very creative in keeping their operations going. They are also very focused on quality.
FOREST PRODUCTS IS NOT THE STATE?S LARGEST MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY; IT RANKS THIRD AFTER COMPUTER/ELECTRONICS AND MAKERS OF MACHINERY.
BUT SARAH SMITH, FORESTRY SPECIALIST WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE?S COOPERATIVE EXTENSION, SAYS A LOT MORE THAN JOBS DEPENDS ON THIS LINE OF WORK. SMITH SAYS THE FOREST INDUSTRY HAS A GREAT EFFECT ON WHAT NEW HAMPSHIRE LOOKS LIKE.
TAPE SARAH SMITH 348 the reason a lot of that green backdrop is there when you drive north is because the landowners have committed to forest management and to maintaining a working forest. And if they?re unable to do that -- if they can?t harvest timber, for example, or open up trails for cross country skiing for fee, then they have a challenge in paying their taxes and maintaining that forest. And so the alternative quite possibly and quite often as we see in southern new Hampshire, is to develop it.
SMITH AGREES THE INDUSTRY IS IN TROUBLE RIGHT NOW. SHE SAYS MORE TIMBER MILLS MAY BE FORCED TO CLOSE. LATER THIS MONTH, INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS PLAN TO HOLD A SUMMIT IN CONCORD TO DISCUSS STRATEGY. FOR N-H-P-R NEWS, I?M DOUG MACPHERSON.
