The U.S. Forest Service extended loggers' contracts to harvest timber in national forests by up to three years to help them deal with the effects of the coronavirus. | Unsplash
The U.S. Forest Service extended loggers' contracts to harvest timber in national forests by up to three years to help them deal with the effects of the coronavirus. | Unsplash
Loggers have more time to harvest timber in national forests from the U.S. Forest Service in response to the economic instability caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
A notice published in the U.S. Federal Register extends contracts in the Lower 48 states by up to two years if the contracts were awarded before April 1. That allows loggers to meet their contracts so they don’t lose rights to cut trees, Montana Public Radio reported. The agency said the average timber contract runs for two to three years.
The notice in the Federal Register said the agency made the decision to help the timber industry as operations shut down across the United States.
“The economic instability that emerged in the wake of COVID-19 could lead to, ‘bankruptcies, loss of infrastructure and loss of jobs,’” Montana Public Radio reported.
Timber jobs and harvests reduced dramatically since their peaks in the late 1980s, according to the Bureau of Business and Economic Research statistics, Montana Business Quarterly reported.
Region 1 of the Forest Service wants to increase how much time gets cut by more than 50% by 2020 as compared to 2017 levels, MTPR reported. The region includes Montana and parts of four other states.
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