“Inflation will kill us slowly; this fuel will kill us this month.”

Brent Roberson - North Carolina

“We had logged for over 20 years but can’t continue to lose money in this industry. We are no longer logging due to everything going up but our pay.”

Mark Pipkin Logging, Arkansas

"I've heard from probably every commodity mill in the state, whether it's a pine mill or a spruce fir mill or a pulp and paper mill that their yards are empty. And they've been empty for most of the spring. I've heard pulp and paper mills who are shutting down every day by 1 or 2 p.m. because they're getting so little wood delivered through their gate. That's one of the things that keeps me up at night. We grow trees really well in the state of Maine, but you have to have the people to go out and cut that wood and bring it to the mills. You can have a great lumber mill. But you're not going to have a great lumbermill if you don't have the loggers out there to bring that wood to the mills."

Jim Robbins - Maine - Sawmill Owner

“In the past year, fuel went from being about 25 percent the cost of his operation to 50 percent. That’s not a profitable operation. There’s just no way you can do that without raising your rates. And gas isn’t the only product getting pricier. The tires have gone up considerably. The oil, just our normal consumables have gone up 50 percent, if not more.”

Martin Sauer - Wisconsin

“Domtar paper mill in Kingsport TN closed due to Covid-19. The pulp wood market accounted for 40% of my production. Now they have announced they are permanently closed. So now the standing timber I have bought for my future I will lose $ to cut it. Week after week my production has been down by 40% compared to Pre-Covid due to no pulpwood market.”

Richard Osborne – Blackwater, Tennessee – Logging 12 years

“We have slowed down significantly from past years. Purchase orders for logs are harder to get. Its costing us lots of time and money keeping in compliance with the Covid-19 work restrictions. We have had key employees out for weeks waiting on test results. I would say profit is down at least 50% as compared to the last 2 years. Galen Bullock".”

Galen Bullock — Cobb, California — Logging 30 years

“We were already suffering from all the rain which is almost expected during the winter months, then Covid hit. We are down two-thirds in production because mills are closed and we are on very strict quota to the mills that are taking a little. No way to make up the lost income.”

Kim Simpkins — Alabama — Logging 30 years

“Our revenue is down 60% from last year.”

Kevin Tripp — Stone Lake, Wisconsin — Logging 31 years

“Lost 40% production, won't be able to hold on to business much longer.”

Dale Guillory — Pineville, Louisiana — Logging 10 years

“I’ve been in the sawmill and logging industry for many years, even became a log buyer at Fouts wood products for 2 years, finally saved money and bought my own equipment. I am logging for half of the money that I was 2 years ago, the combination of the Chinese trade deal an pandemic has destroyed the industry, this is the worst I have ever seen it, mills are closing down left and right, most can’t even sell there lumber. I’m really concerned for our industry.”

Tom Cook — Kentucky — Logging 28 years

“At Wade T. Biggs Logging in Pinetown, NC the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has struck and hit hard. In order to comply with social distancing and stay 6’ apart, we have to use 3 vehicles to bring our Loggers to the woods now instead of using the van. This means triple the fuel cost and maintenance. Our loads used to be 150-200, and now on a good week we might do 120 max. The quotas placed on us make it harder and harder to earn a living these days. Coupled with the fact that the markets are drastically slowing, and the mills are not taking in loads means we aren’t earning near what we used to in past years. Loggers are in dire need of help, and we need it to come sooner rather than later."

Wade Biggs – Pinetown, North Carolina — Logging 51 Years

“Welch Land & Timber is located in Northeast Michigan. We support 18 families, between our team members, owners and subcontractor that cuts exclusively for us. While we were fortunate to be an essential business throughout all of COVID-19, we have lost revenues because of the virus. Overall, a conservative guess on what COVID-19 has cost us in lost revenues / additional expenses, I would say it’s been about $200,000 so far this year, about 16% of our gross revenues April - July.  This above and beyond our PPP loan.”

Daniel & Aaron Welch – Michigan

“Mills quietly slow or shut down production when their Employees are affected. Often key Mill employees are hard to replace at a production level acceptable to management, thus causing downtime or reduction in volume processed.”

Ken Martin – Mendenhall, Mississippi – Logging 44 years

“Everyone is on a quota, I can hardly give pulp away, and no one will buy low grade logs for blocking. Lost close to 40% of my income due to this virus.”

Kyle Wilson – Kane, Pennsylvania – Logging 12 years

“During the winter we expect time off, since we work for small landowners. But once worked started coming and we were getting ready to go back to work COVID struck and put everything on hold. None of the mills would give out purchase orders so everything was put on hold for another month. Prices dropped to where we were almost giving logs away. But on top of that we were put on load quotas so we could only ship one load a day. We cannot survive on one load a day. The pulp market never went up, now we can hardly get rid of pulp.”

Austin Sedy – Castle Rock, Washington – Logging 9 years

“Pulp market is bad. On quota can only sell 1 load a week if lucky. Hard times before covid. Now it's to the point of getting out of logging. No money in it.”

Bob Pamler – Paris, Maine – Logging 34 years

“This has been the worst year in my history of logging. I had been hauling to the paper mill in Wisconsin Rapids, and now that they have shut down, things have come to almost a stand still. I've always kept a nice truck, trailer and loader, and have been thinking of selling out, but can't get enough for it to pay off the loan and have a little extra to start something different. We need help sooner than later.”

Dave Anderson — Wisconsin

“We’ve started laying the groundwork for a shutdown here, because every day that we work I’m taking equity out of equipment and I’m taking money out of the bank and giving it to the pulp mills so that I can deliver wood below cost. There’s no efficiency that you can bring to the table to allow a contractor to match efficiencies to the prices that are in the market right now for the pulpwood. The only solution to that is to stop logging in my opinion. I don’t believe that I’ve seen the full ramifications of this financially, I think that’s yet to come, I think this fall and this winter is probably going to be the real issue. We could continue to operate on reduced quotas, a reduced quota is acceptable, but the reduced price per unit is unacceptable because it’s below our operating cost, that’s the part that’s killing me. It’s expensive to practice good forestry, if we’re going to do it correctly, we have to be paid to do it. Speaking for myself, we need some assistance out here somewhere. I hate asking for assistance and I’m not a big fan of handouts, believe me there’s nothing I hate worse than asking for help with anything, but we’re truly in a mess as an industry right now, I don’t know how else to describe it.” 

Gavin McLain - Washington, Maine

“The closing of the Verso mill caused by Covid 19 took away 70 percent of my market. Other markets are nonexistent due to lack of demand. Currently using cash reserves to cover monthly expenses as current income levels are not sustainable.”

Dale Heil — Stratford, Wisconsin

“Wood sales for the first six months are down 16%, as contracts have tightened. Two pulp mills closed in June and July Our company is just starting to feel the effects of this, in July and August, as contracts for timber has been slashed 50%. I foresee about another 25% in revenue decline Profit is down 48% for the first six months of 2020. Things seem to keep getting worse instead of better.” 

Mark Anderson – Felch, Michigan

“All the mills are on quota the prices of everything has went up and its harder to get parts and it takes longer to get them if have to order them.”

Brandon Walsh - Boomer, North Carolina – Logging 29 years

“Every time my phone rings and it’s a wood buyer I prepare for the worst, because you never know what it’s going to be on the other end, and its usually bad news. What we’re cutting and yarding and trucking some of this wood for, it’s a joke. You’ve got to kind of keep going but could we do this all the time? No, we couldn’t. It may get worse before this year’s over, we’re only halfway through and I hate to say it but I don’t think we’ve seen the worst of this for us. Do I lay awake a lot of nights worrying about 40-some odd families? Yes, I do.”

Richard McLucas - Porter, Maine

“The slowed down economy has caused mills to be full of inventory, and we our on very tight quota, working only 3 days a week most of the time. Hard to make your notes, insurance payments, and trying to keep employees going. We need some kind of help because it’s not going to get better anytime soon by the looks of things.”

Jason Davis – Jonesboro, Louisiana – Logging 33 years

“Caused a mill to shut down, now we can’t sell any hardwood pulp.“

Bernice Smith — Lily, Wisconsin — Logger for 30 years

“It’s terrible. I don't think people will be able to hold on much longer. We need to protect our ability to produce wood products. It’s a national security issue if we rely on other countries for wood products because ours went away.”

Edward Wright – Maine – Logging 10 years

“Just recently, a large lumber mill in our area has been infected by the virus causing it to close. The logs that would normally go to this mill have been diverted to the mill we normally supply. This resulting in a huge over supply of logs and now extremely tight quotas. We will be working only two days a week for the foreseeable future.”

Raymond Westbrooks — Columbia, Louisiana — Logging 23 years

“Very negatively impacted, most of our markets, have either dried up or are buying logs at reduced prices and volumes.”

Dutch Elbe — Elmwood, Wisconsin — Logging 42 years

“It has drastically hurt my business. Between covid and the jay mill suffering the loss of the digesters. I have no tickets at all for the next two weeks. I can’t send pulpwood, logs, biomass, nothing the only thing I’m able to move is a few hardwood logs and the by chance load of firewood. If something don’t change in the near future I will be permanently out of business”

Bryce Bilodeau — Livermore, Maine — Logging 30 years

“Lost our main hardwood market and the other three hardwood mills I shipped to are plum full and so we can move hardwood pulp. I have a large contract with IP but no aspen stumpage available. I tried to get some but I can't bid 80.00 a cord and truck it 1.5 hrs and get 103 a cord for it. We tried a SBA loan but they rejected it. Not enough revenue and we went mechanized this year. Its very hard to survive. But the government doesn't care about us loggers!!”

Justin Franzen — Tony, Wisconsin — Logging 5 years

“The Last Two Years The Trade War With China Greatly Reduced The Price Of Logs Dropping Our Production Costs To Almost Nothing No Relief Like The Farmers Got Then Covid Comes Causing Verso Mills To Close And Many Other Mills To Cut Production That Means Less Volume They Will Take From Loggers And Reduced Prices. Looks Bad From Every Angle. Worst I Have Seen. “

Allen Suzan — Logging 34 years

“I provide trucking services to the raw timber product producers. Tonnage hauled so far this year is down 72% from this time last year. Last year was down from the previous year. See the trend? The COVID shut down has eliminated any chance of maintaining current hauling levels,never mind increasing.This is due to the elimination of wood markets for producers to sell to. Equipment costs are extreme when running or not,and decreased or eliminated revenues make keeping a viable business impossible.The PPP loan did not go very far,and likely will not be able to be paid back due to the very real possibility of not having the income to do so.”

Justin Yelle — Gwinn, Michigan — Logging 10 years

“Contracts are small due to current demand. Having to do more hand cutting and side jobs just to keep it going, payments on equipment not running at full capacity still have to be paid plus all the insurance on it.”

Adam Czarnezki — Rib Lake, Wisconsin — Logging 23 years

“We have had to shut down one of our 3 crews that used to cut privately owned timber due to very poor markets. We have some timber bought for that job that we cannot sell. Thankfully we are still able to run the other 2 crews on company owned timber but production is down 30-40% on those 2 crews. We need to update several pieces of equipment but there is no way we can afford to do that and if the markets do not improve soon I’m not sure we will be able to make it through the winter.”

Larry Adkins — Grayson, Louisiana — Logging 40 years

“You could put 14 mills in the state right now, but product is not selling. The market is that bad, and I don’t think it’s going to come back fully. I’m just looking at one crew this morning and between the hardwood and the softwood cuts this year there is going to be $211,000 less gross revenue on just one crew alone. All four crews this year I’m looking close to a million dollars less revenue between production volume and price decreases. Do I shut everything down for the year and tell the guys to go home and just pay the interest on what I’ve got? And then what happens next year? I’ve got 20 families here. What do I do? I’m looking for anything that can help us get through this, the banks are doing everything they can, and I can’t ask anymore from the bankers, it’s the government I’m looking at saying is there any way you can help. We’re proud people, we’ve decided to fight this until we can’t anymore not just for me but for the 20 families depending on this business that have become my family, we don’t want to give up...but every company that’s in the woods today is going to need some help, and if there is no help now, there will not be anyone left to help later.”

Mike Nadeau - St. Francis, Maine

“Everyone is on quota and mills are getting full and effecting all our hard working employees.”

Elias Westbrook — Winnfield, Louisiana — Logging 17 years