U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Investments in timber stand improvements are “critical to future wood supply and value, but difficult for landowners to make when wood markets are challenging,” said the owner of a Washington County forestry company.

Of the total pledged, $1 million will come from the governor's contingency account, with the John T. Gorman Foundation contributing $250,000 to supplement food supplies for Maine households.

Current law excludes loggers from the kinds of disaster relief and assistance available to other industries, including fishermen and farmers, when natural disasters strike.  as a result of storms and other natural disasters.

Food support organizations are looking to fill a gap left by the loss of $1.25 million in USDA funding earlier this year.

John Butera, who most recently had been a VP and commercial loan officer at Skowhegan Savings Bank, has been selected to head rural development for the USDA in Maine.

Seven farms and food entities have come together to form a statewide collaborative fundraising initiative, in the wake of federal funding cuts.

Maine was to have received a total of $1.8 million in food program funding this year. An estimated $917,000 had become inaccessible.

In an apparent retaliation against the state for not prohibiting transgender athletes from participating in high school sports, money for children’s food programs are seeing funding freezes.

More than 250 organizations across Maine participate in the program to combat food insecurity.

Two USDA programs fund access to about 800,000 pounds of food distributed by Good Shepherd and its partners to people in need.