[A]t 66, Dave Stratton of Hardwick faces a hard decision about the sawmill he operates on his own. Stratton’s not making enough money to justify keeping the mill open, and he expects he’ll have to close it next summer.
But he has nine grandsons, and he can’t help thinking one of them might want to take it over eventually. So he’d like to wait as long as he can.
“I guess I can step out of it, but I really want to stay here,” said Stratton, who doesn’t think he could sell the mill. “I figured maybe if I could go to 75 or 76, they’ll be out of school and maybe one of them will want to take it over.”
The number of small family owned sawmills in Vermont has dropped steeply in the last two decades, and several are on the brink of closure now because of changes in the industry, including high log prices, competition from Quebec, and an upcoming wave of owner retirements.
In 1970, Vermont had about 130 permanent sawmills, said Paul Frederick, who leads the wood utilization and wood energy program for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation. By 2017, there were fewer than 50, he said.
Global economic forces have played a large part in altering the financial picture for local sawmills. Just a few decades ago, Vermont sawmills typically processed logs from nearby woodlots and sold them to local manufacturers, said Sam Lincoln, the deputy commissioner of Forests & Parks.
Now, “these enterprises are competing in a global economy,” Lincoln said. He said half of the hardwood lumber sawed in the U.S. is exported to Asia, where the wood manufacturing business has moved.
“Asian log buyers are working steadily to purchase logs all over the region and, anecdotally, we hear that they are paying significantly higher prices to the middlemen to acquire these logs than the local mills can compete with,” Lincoln said. “The logs are loaded into shipping containers in our woods and then shipped halfway around the globe.”
Small Vermont mills also don’t benefit from the economies of scale that larger mills do elsewhere. The total output of all the mills in Vermont sawing at least 1 million board feet annually is just under 100 million board feet, said Lincoln.
Meanwhile, “we know of individual mills in Quebec, just across the New England border, that produce 150 million board feet annually, under one roof, and there are over 100 sawmills in Quebec,” Lincoln said. “We have some great mills that have invested in excellent technology to be more efficient, but there’s an enormous disparity (and economic advantage) when one mill needs a supply of raw material that is 150 percent of what 17 scattered mills do.”
Sawmill owners who are ready for retirement are having a hard time finding someone willing to take over for them. If they don’t have their own offspring available, often the only alternative is to close, said Colleen Goodridge, the owner and operator of a family sawmill in Albany.
“We have some grave concerns,” said Goodridge, who as a board member of the Vermont Forest Products Association has been active in working with policymakers on reforming Act 250 to loosen environmental regulations that hinder loggers. She has sons ages 45, 42 and 37 who work for the family business.
“Whether it’s logging, trucking, sawmilling or whatever, the average age of the logger is 55, and probably the rest of the sectors are about the same,” Goodridge said. “We’re questioning what our workforce is going to be.”
Other economic forces, such as taxes, other state and federal regulations, and insurance, are similar to those that have led to the closure of small farms in Vermont and elsewhere.
“Mills and logging are like the farmers; everything keeps getting bigger and bigger, putting out more and more quantity and less quality,” Stratton said.
Logging subcontractors that Stratton and others rely on — such as local truckers and the Maine company that sharpens saw blades for mills in northern New England — are also being replaced by larger operators who don’t work smoothly with small family-run operations.
“The big-time loggers — there are no small guys — want to sell you 200,000 feet of logs,” Stratton said. “You haven’t get the money to buy $60,000 worth of logs; you won’t saw them over a whole year. We probably do 150,000 feet a year.”
To counteract theses pressures, the Vermont Forest Products Association and Forests and Parks are both trying to stimulate the market for wood products.
“We could use more sawmills, more biomass plants or pellet plants,” said Goodridge. “As hard as it is to get into business, with permitting and so forth, we haven’t seen any new businesses come up that can use the locally harvested wood.”
The two entities are also promoting the use of wood products in manufacturing and supporting technical school efforts to teach young people about careers in forest products.
“The more we can diversify and encourage investment in adding value within the state through primary processing at sawmills, the use of wood energy, use of wood in Vermont buildings, and through other uses, the more likely we are to positively impact the bottom line of forestland owners and the rural economy,” Lincoln said.
Another sawmill owner in Lamoille County said he doesn’t have any lumber for sale now, and is considering closing his business as well.
“There are several more on the fence, and we’ll see what the next year or two brings as to whether they will continue or not,” said Goodridge.
“The fact is we need the business in Vermont,” she said. “It is an important piece of the economy. It provides a living for many people, and it’s part of our heritage and culture. And if the forests are not managed, then we’re going to see loss of all the benefits, such as your timber, your wildlife, habitat, clean air, water.”