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Bleak outlook for forestry industry

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copyright the Chronicle August 2, 2017

 

by Tena Starr

 

Nearly 50 years ago, a few weeks out of high school, Ken Davis had a tiff with his farmer father that set him on a new career course. Instead of a farmer, he became a logger.

And for nearly half a century that’s pretty much how he’s made his living.

Until recently, that is, when the venerable logging industry went to pieces, especially in the Northeast Kingdom.

“I gave it up over a year ago,” Mr. Davis said in a recent interview. “I logged for 48 years. It’s pretty bleak out there from a logger’s point of view.  I couldn’t make a profit anymore.”

He still operates a logging station in Hardwick, meaning he takes in wood from loggers, then finds a market and distributes it.  But even that has become increasingly precarious, he said.

“We aren’t sure what the future is going to bring. We did find a pine market up in Maine. That’s helped us. We’re still in business, but it’s a dire situation.”

 

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