Dana Doran

Maine’s Christmas tree industry pumps an estimated $19 million into the state’s economy each year — and Gov. Janet Mills is urging residents to keep it growing by choosing a home-grown tree this holiday season.

Since 2017, 60% of graduates, or more than 100, have been working in the industry. Demand for logging and forest trucking operators in Maine is high and projected to remain so.

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.

A bill would improve forest industry employment and participation through a grant program aimed at rural and underserved communities.

The proposal 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.

Another dozen future members of Maine's logging industry are training this summer in a joint program of the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine and Northern Maine Community College.

Loggers are excluded from disaster relief available to other industries. Proposed legislation would unlock federal assistance for damage from high winds, fire, flooding, insect infestation and drought. 

As in past years, the majority of students who completed the five-month training program have had jobs waiting for them after graduation.

The Professional Logging Contractors of Maine is opening eligibility to loggers in Vermont, and the group's name has been updated accordingly.

Thanks to grant funding, students pay no tuition or fees, and all personal protective equipment is provided for the program.