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Updated: February 18, 2025

Proposed bill looks to start forest products workforce training at age 16

Heavy machinery works within a stand of woods. FILE PHOTO / COURTESY PROFESSIONAL LOGGING CONTRACTORS OF MAINE Proposed federal legislation aims to develop the next generation of Maine’s forest products workforce by allowing young Mainers to train in their family’s logging business. 
By Laurie Schreiber

Proposed federal legislation aims to develop the next generation of Maine’s forest products workforce by allowing young Mainers to train in their family’s logging business. 

The proposed legislation would allow 16-year-olds to work in their families’ logging businesses under parental supervision — something already possible on farms but illegal in the logging industry. The goal is to jumpstart professional development and protect small businesses. 

The proposal was supported by the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast.

The logging and forest trucking industry faces an uncertain future without Congressional action, said Dana Doran, the trade group's executive director. 

“Small family businesses that have been passed down from generation to generation are the bedrock of this industry, providing jobs and opportunity to thousands of citizens while contributing to rural economies,” Doran said.

U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-District 2, reintroduced the Future Logging Careers Act.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, were the original cosponsors of the bill.

Maine forest product industry faces questions about its future because of its older workforce, according to a news release. Within the next 10 years, an estimated 20% to 40% of forest product workers will reach retirement age. 

The act “would give aspiring, young loggers the option to jumpstart their career, get valuable hands-on experience and begin critical training by logging with their parents or grandparents,” King said. 

Golden noted that young Mainers need the hands-on experience.

The act would “encourage young Mainers to begin their careers in a heritage Maine industry and help grow the workforce as many loggers reach retirement age,” Pingree said.

Maine’s 16.3 million acres of contiguous, privately-owned working forest is the largest such in the U.S. Its forest products industry — which includes logging and downstream manufacturing such as pulp and paper production — generates $85 billion in annual economic activity and employs more than 30,000 people.

It would ensure that use of the most dangerous equipment, such as manual chainsaws, would still be prohibited until age 18. 

“The industry relies on mechanized equipment, and it can take a year or more of training before an operator is able to operate these machines,” said Collins. “To alleviate the worker shortage, provide good jobs and keep the forest products industry strong, it is essential that the next generation be prepared for the logging profession.”

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