Bangor Daily News: Tougher trade policies can give Maine’s sawmills a chance to thrive

Originally Published in Bangor Daily News by Jared Golden, Special to the BDN

“No round stick of wood should ever leave Maine.” Have you heard that before? Spend time in the small towns of Aroostook, Somerset or Penobscot counties and you just might. This phrase is echoed by the people of northern Maine who have watched their communities — built on the sweat of cutting, hauling and sawing wood — wither away while those outside our border make money off Maine’s resources.

Harmful trade policies impacting our forest product industry have hamstrung northern Maine for the better part of a century. Conversely, Canada’s federal and provincial governments have done a great job looking out for their industry. Meanwhile, here in the U.S., corporations and lobbyists that benefit from this imbalance have succeeded in enacting trade and migrant labor policies that hurt those whose livelihoods depend on Maine wood being cut by Mainers, hauled by Mainers and sawed by Mainers.

Read the full article here.