This article originally appeared in the Bangor Daily News on May 21, 2026 The memories are still vivid in northern Maine: whole mountainsides going skeletal, the sky thick with moths around the streetlights, forests stripped bare as far as the eye could reach. The last spruce budworm outbreak, which raged from the late 1960s through the
Maine is working to avoid a catastrophic spruce budworm outbreak Read More »
From the National Association of Manufacturers – America’s broken permitting system is costing manufacturers in America $7.9 billion each year, according to a new report released today by the National Association of Manufacturers and the Foundation for American Innovation—underscoring the urgent need for bipartisan, comprehensive permitting reform to strengthen America’s economic and national security. The
$7.9 Billion a Year: The Cost of America’s Broken Permitting System to Manufacturers Read More »
“Everything you see in back of us here is new,” said Jason Brochu of Pleasant River Lumber. Between this mill in Enfield and another in Dover-Foxcroft, Pleasant River Lumber produces about 130 million board feet of lumber each year. The operation employs around 300 Mainers with jobs tied to logging, trucking, cabinet-making and log home
With the recent progression of LD 19, “An Act to Change the Definition of ‘Oversized ATV’ in the Laws Governing the Registration of All-terrain Vehicles,” in the Maine Legislature, a coalition representing woodland owners, ATV (All Terrain Vehicles) users, and the forest products industry is warning about the risk this legislation imposes on Maine’s ATV
One of MFPC’s highest priority bills for this year is a bond bill to incentivize the entrance of a cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturing facility to Maine. The bond bill, LD 798, “An Act to Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue to Fund Mass Timber Manufacturing” was carried over from last session. The Northern Border
Cross Laminated Timber Update Read More »
Heritage Forest Industry Supports 29,000 jobs and contributes $1 of every $29 to Maine’s GDP The Maine Forest Products Council, in collaboration with the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, is pleased to announce the release of the 2024 Statewide Economic Contribution of Maine’s Forest Products Sector report. The report compares data on the
MFPC Deputy Director Ellen Parent testified before the Board of Environmental Protection on October 16 on the the draft Packaging Material Types List for the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging program. This list will be used to determine whether materials are considered “readily recyclable”, “compostable” or “reusable” under the Extended Producer Responsibility program for the
MFPC Testifies On Extended Producer Responsibility Rules Read More »
MFPC provided comments on the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s recommendations for the 2025 Triennial Review of Water Quality Standards at the Board of Environmental Protection hearing on October 16, 2025. MFPC supports DEP’s balanced approach to the 2025 Triennial Review. We agree with DEP’s incorporation of a daily average DO criterion for Class B
MFPC Provides Insights Into the 2025 Triennial Review of Water Quality Standards Read More »
On behalf of the Maine Forest Products Council, we appreciate the opportunity to provide comments on the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP’s) October 9, 2025 draft Water Quality Certification (WQC) for the Shawmut, Lockwood, Hydro Kennebec, and Weston Hydroelectric Projects on the lower Kennebec River. Earlier this year, nearly 100 employees of Sappi North
MFPC Voices Concern Regarding DEP’s draft WQC for the lower Kennebec River dams Read More »
This column originally appeared in the BDN on July 5, 2025 Mainers are known for being thrifty to a fault. We know how to stretch a dollar, and how to make the most of limited resources. We are also the most forested state in the nation, which is why Mainers have always relied on wood
Opinion: Media got it wrong when it comes to Maine’s pulp and paper mills Read More »
