PLC Member Weekly Update May 3, 2024

This year’s meeting is being held at an exciting new location, The Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine. We can’t wait to see you there!

May 9th

Splinters and Spirits Tour – Robbins Lumber and Local Brewery, Winery, & Distillery Tours

Evening Social Gathering – The Samoset Clubhouse

May 10th

Full PLC Board Meeting and Elections (Contractors only)

Equipment Innovation Panel

John Godfrey, Godfrey Forest Products

Log A Load Auction with NASCAR Driver Ricky Craven

PBS America’s Forests TV Show Premiere Featuring The Mallett Brothers Band

It is not too late to Donate!

In 2023, we raised over $127,723 for Log A Load for Kids & Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, through our dinner and auction. Our goal in 2024 is to exceed that total, and we hope that you can help us make miracles happen! This year, we are also excited to announce a new partnership with the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital in Burlington as we expand our Log A Load reach and look forward to sharing our generosity with children in Vermont. We need auction items! Gift baskets, gift certificates, overnight stays, trips, products, and genuine Northeast experiences that epitomize the region. Can you help us reach our goal and make this year’s Log A Load Auction a success? 

There is a link to donate online below. If you would like to call us and discuss your ideas for a donation, please call Renee’ at 207-688-8195 opt. 1.  

If you are able to donate, please let us know, so we can plan ahead to promote the item! 

Thank you for making miracles happen and we look forward to hearing from you!

Northeast Logger Reception at Loggers’ Expo

Northeast Contractors, if you’re planning on attending the Loggers Expo, don’t miss this FREE event! You and a guest are invited (space is limited to two per company). Please RSVP by Friday, May 3rd at noon by emailing office@plcloggers.org or calling 207-612-9280. Please consider inviting a logging contractor with you who is not a current PLC Member or Master Logger! Thank you to our sponsor for the event, Milton CAT!

Blanket work search waiver extended to May 11, 2024

Members, many of you are facing the annual challenges of temporarily laying off employees or being laid off yourself due to mud season, and with wet conditions continuing in many parts of Maine, the PLC has secured an extension of the work search waiver period for unemployment.

As before, workers impacted will be granted a work search waiver approved by the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Bureau Director of Unemployment Compensation for up to 5 weeks total, but we have just learned that the period of eligibility for waiver has now been extended through May 11, 2024. This will assist loggers in areas like Northern Maine where mud season conditions persist later than elsewhere.

The most important steps for logging contractors and employees to follow in order to apply for Unemployment Benefits:

File an unemployment claim by phone or online. DO NOT enter a return to work date when applying. 

Call to File: The employee contacts the Bureau at 1-800-593-7660 selects option 2 between 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM Monday through Friday. The department is manually putting in a “Director Approved Waiver” for impacted loggers.

Note: Mondays are busiest at the unemployment office and tend to slow down each day following. Currently, the average wait times for phone calls are below 3 minutes, so please be patient and a representative will help you.

File Online: online self-service, click HERE. There are zero wait times, and this option is available 7 days a week. Select “Create ReEmployME Account” if you do not already have an account created from prior years, or “Claimant Login” if you have filed through the ReEmployME system sometime within the last three years. Then select the “Unemployment Claim” tab at the top of your screen and go to “File Unemployment Claim.” Follow the prompts on the screen to file a new claim or reopen an existing claim. The department is manually putting in a “Director Approved Waiver” for impacted loggers.

Any questions may be directed to the Bureau at 1-800-593-7660.

Click here for more unemployment information and guidance

The Logger’s Voice – Spring 2024 Edition

Members, The Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP), administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA), provides payments to eligible owners of nonindustrial private forest land in order to carry out emergency measures to restore land damaged by the weather related storms of the last five months. This program could provide many landowners you work with, and as a result your business, revenue during mud season for clean-up efforts on eligible forestland.

Applicants to this program (landowners) need to work with their local FSA Office to register their land by providing proof of ownership documents such as their deed(s) and tax map(s) and complete in-house eligibility paperwork. Applicants will also need to take initial pictures of the damage and provide an estimate of what is needed to clean up the land. Work cannot start in the program until approved.

Only nonindustrial private forest land is eligible for this program. Applicants that are principally engaged in the primary processing of wood products are not eligible applicants.

Once approved, applicants will be paying upfront for the cleanup to contractors and the program will provide cost-share for items approved. It is important to note that the program will not pay more than 75% of the established price which can be found on the component spreadsheet – the intent of the program is not to reimburse applicants in full but to cover a portion of the cost. Receipts will be required when applicants request payment. 

A Fact Sheet on the program is available here and we encourage you to share it with landowners you work with: Emergency Forest Restoration Program.

Sign up for this program ends on May 24.

Anyone with questions should speak with their local FSA office.

Maine’s Direct Link Loan Program

Are you a Master Logger® in Maine who is buying new equipment? Take advantage of the Direct Link Loan Program and get an interest rate reduction of up to 2% on qualifying equipment. Details of the program and how you can take advantage of it are below:

1. A Master Logger signs an Agreement with the Maine Forest Service (MFS), the bank submits Agreement to MFS, and it is approved by the MFS for the purchase of a new or new to them piece of qualifying equipment. (Cut to Length Harvesters and Forwarders, Tracked Feller Bunchers, Stroke Delimbers, Mulching Machines, Road Graders; also includes retrofitting of existing equipment like Flotation tires, Bogey wheels, harvester and processor heads; and Miscellaneous purchases like Metal and Wooden Bridges, Bottomless arches, and sediment and erosion control products) Purchases are considered on a case by case basis, with eligibility based on whether the equipment facilitates the implementation of Best Management Practices.

**Equipment that is NOT eligible: Grapple Skidders, Pull-Thru Delimbers, Tree-to-Tree Feller Bunchers. 

2. The Master Logger gets a loan from a participating bank. (See list below) Example: Loan is for $500,000 at current bank interest rate (ex. 7.00%). Contractor can have multiple loans but can’t exceed the $800,000 aggregate limit allowed by the program.

3. The Master Logger is given an interest rate subsidy (reduction) of 1.50% (up to 2%) – the same amount as the *CD rate for as long as they continue to qualify for the program.

Example: 7.00% loan interest rate less 1.50% rate subsidy = 5.50 effective rate.

The following banks participate in the direct link loan program.

• Katahdin Trust Company – David Cambridge
• Farm Credit East – Shannon Webber
• Machias Savings Bank – Anita Madden
• Acadia FCU

**Note: Maine Municipal Bond Bank buys a $500,000 CD for up to five years from bank for up to 2.00% less than the bank’s going CD rate matching the term of the loan. Ex. 1.50 % – (up to 2%)

Don’t see your bank on the list? Reach out and encourage them to get involved.

Not yet Master Logger® Certified? Email Sydney at sydney@tcnef.org, call (207)-688-8195, opt. 2 or visit masterloggercertification.com.

 For more information, click here for the Direct Link Loan Program.

Northeastern Loggers’ Association Expo 2024

The Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast (PLC) is pleased to offer Logger, Fleet and CPR Safety Training to all PLC Members and Master Loggers March 28-May 17 in 2024. Openings still remain! Don’t wait, register now!

There is no charge for the Logger and Fleet Safety Training classes. CPR/First Aid is $50/attendee. 

**Registration is still open for the Logger / Fleet Training in Fort Kent at TNT Road Company on May 17th.

Register now!

FOR SCHEDULE AND ONLINE REGISTRATION CLICK HERE

PLC Crew First Aid Backpack

PLC First Aid Pack: In response to widespread interest from members, we have created a PLC First Aid Pack that has everything you need for emergencies in the woods. This Military Elite Tactical Trauma First Aid Backpack was designed for the PLC by Paul Stewart – EMT Houlton, ME. 

To order Click HERE

Now FREE to Maine Loggers! A $300 value!

LEARN MORE

Sappi’s $418 million expansion of Skowhegan mill continues on schedule

Maine saw increase of worker deaths in 2023 | newscentermaine.com

King, Risch Lead Bipartisan Resolution to Honor 152nd Arbor Day

Loggers and top Democrat decry Maine alliance with biggest landowners

Maine logging tensions / ‘Smart growth’ / Bangor shelter’s future

Environmental Protection Agency report shows an increase of toxic chemical releases in Maine

Webinar Covers Two of Maine’s Troublesome Pests: Jumping Worms and Browntail Moths

‘One of the biggest threats to our forests in our lifetime’ | Columns from Northeast Kingdom of Vermont

RFSI Grant Application and Webinar – Vermont Business Magazine

UVM researcher studies risks brought on by deforestation – WCAX

Lipsky shares thoughts with ed, ways and means committees | Opinion Columns | vtcng.com

The push for mass timber as a sustainable housing solution in New England

Vermont Outdoor Recreation Industry News. April 2024

Scientists discover forests that may resist climate change – Phys.org

Working forests can maximize ecological, economic and cultural forest values – The Charlotte News

Crews conduct controlled burns in Green Mountain National Forest | VermontPublic

Watershed Forestry Partnership Annual Meeting is Back in Person – The University of Vermont

PLC Members Only!

Equipment Cost Calculators Available

Members,

With expenses rising rapidly in the industry we know you are struggling to get a handle on your costs. This is a great time to utilize the cost calculators created in 2021 for PLC Members.

These new, easy to use, logging equipment and log trucking cost calculators are available on the PLC Members Only section of our web site You may access this private section of the web site with your member login or set up a login HERE.

These calculators allow you to quickly estimate the hourly cost of operation for any piece of your equipment.

DISCLAIMER: These calculators are being made available for your business use as a member benefit. They produce equipment estimates and are not official products of the PLC nor should they be used for negotiation purposes.

PLC Online Store

ALC Member Discounts

PLC Members, because the PLC is a member of the American Loggers Council YOU are entitled to special discounts! CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

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Fabian Oil Discount

Wallingford’s Discounts

Maine Trailer Discounts

PLC Members get a 5% discount on culverts purchased at Treeline and Frank Martin & Sons

Hale Trailer discounts for PLC Members on new trailer purchases! Call Neal at 207-232-7969 for details!

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Cross Arena Discounts for PLC! 

PLC Classified Section