PLC cautions planned sale of Kennebec River dams must not harm Sappi Somerset Mill and Loggers

SKOWHEGAN, ME – The Professional Logging Contractors (PLC) of Maine today urged all involved in the sale of four Kennebec River dams to the Nature Conservancy to ensure the acquisition does not imperil the future of Sappi North America’s Somerset Mill, which is critical to the regional logging industry and the wider Maine economy.

Under the sale agreement, reached on Sept. 15 and announced today, The Nature Conservancy will acquire four dams on the lower Kennebec River in Maine including the Lockwood, Hydro-Kennebec, Shawmut, and Weston dams, with restoring fish populations and a free-flowing river among the goals. This could include eventual removal of the Shawmut Dam. The Somerset Mill in Skowhegan depends on the impoundment or pond created by the Shawmut Dam for its water intake and discharge operations.

“While we need to allow time and discussions to play out, if Sappi is harmed, it will devastate our members and the entire logging and forest trucking industry in our region,” Dana Doran, Executive Director of the PLC, said. “Sappi’s Somerset Mill is the largest wood-consuming mill in Maine and has invested significantly in upgrades and innovations to assure it will remain an anchor of our forest economy for decades to come. Removal of the Shawmut Dam would threaten the mill’s viability. We urge the new owners of the dams to commit to, as they said in their statement, developing a solution with Sappi that not only fully addresses the Somerset Mill’s long-term water system needs, but ensures the livelihoods of hundreds of families tied to logging and trucking.”

Founded in Maine in 1995 by a handful of loggers who were concerned about the future of the forest economy, the PLC has grown steadily to become a regional non-profit which provides independent logging and forest trucking contractors a voice along with a suite of other forest certification programs which are grounded in responsible forest management. Board membership consists of only loggers, making it an organization that is run by loggers on behalf of loggers.

Learn more about the PLC at www.plcloggers.org