JLC • NEW ENGLAND UPDATE • FEBRUARY JLC • NEW ENGLAND UPDATE • DECEMBER 1996
Lumber Supply
in Flux
Maine Forestry Bills
Highlight Changes
A pair of competing public referendums
to regulate forestry practices
in Maine will likely reduce
logging and tighten the regional
log market. However, experts say
the bills will probably not raise
lumber prices. Nevertheless, the
referendums are part of larger
changes in the forest industry
that have contributed to price
volatility over the last few years,
and which promise to continue
to affect wood supply and prices
for some time.
A question of competition.
In November, voters in Maine —
the biggest source of wood in
the Northeast — voted on two
proposals to regulate the timber
industry there. The