Researchers Begin Logging Survey to Understand, Strengthen Forest Industry
Contact: Jeff Benjamin, 581-2727; Jessica Leahy, (207) 581-2834
ORONO — The University of Maine School of Forest Resources has received a U.S. Department of Agriculture research grant to take a close look at the northeast region’s logging industry and examine its infrastructure, capacity, workforce and issues that affect its economic health and future.
The research will result in a better understanding of how various sectors of the logging industry respond to the significant challenges facing them, both now and in the future, according to Jeffrey Benjamin, assistant professor of forest operations in the School of Forest Resources and principal investigator for the $25,000 grant-funded project. Jessica Leahy, assistant professor of human dimensions of natural resources in the forestry school and program leader in the Center on Sustainable Forests, is co-principal investigator for the project, “A Long-Term Monitoring Program to Assess the Northern Forest’s Logging Industry.”
Using a variety of survey techniques, such as mail-out surveys and face-to-face interviews, the researchers will identify and assess key industry metrics that can be tracked over the long-term to identify future opportunities and challenges facing the logging industry across the entire northern forest region.
Loggers and logging business owners will receive surveys this fall.
The forest products supply chain of the northern forest is involves many independent contractors who provide a service to a diverse group of landowners and supply raw material to multiple wood-using facilities. The entire supply chain is only as strong as the weakest link, and the logging community in the northern forest region is particularly vulnerable as there is no organization solely focused on the logging sector of the industry, Benjamin says in the project summary. The research will make an objective and detailed examination of the logging industry in this region.
A project report will be submitted to the USDA and project participants. Results also will be included in one or two peer-reviewed journal articles, according to Benjamin. Two undergraduate students will assist in processing results.