The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 14

4B THE BURLINGTON FREE PRESS MONDAY, JULY 1 2, 1 993 VERMONTNEW ENGLAND Exports, nature put squeeze on Northeast sawmills Loggers: White pine is hard to come by To get logs in and get quality, we have to jack the price we pay for logs and that has an effect on the price you pay for lumber." Jim Rand, Rand Lumber Co. Inc. in Rye, N.H. a ft Mull iiihhmmh By David Tlrrell -Wysockl The Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. Deep mud, deeper snow and threatened owls have combined with shrunken dollars and international exports to squeeze New Hampshire sawmills.

"It's not just one thing," said Jim Rand, owner of Rand Lumber Co. in Rye. "It's a lot of things combined and they all point in one direction hard times." Mills needs logs to stay in business, and some, especially those who process white pine, are finding them hard to come by. Nature has caused part of the problem, as the winter's deep snow and extra long and messy mud season prevented normal timber harvesting and cut into supplies. At the same time, shiploads of logs that regional mills would be making into lumber are being carried halfway around the world to Japan and China, who began paying top dollar for New England timber when their supply from the Pacific Northwest was reduced, partly because woodlands are off limits to protect the spotted owl and other endangered species.

Add to that intense competition from Canada, where the government subsidizes the sawmills, and northern New JIM COLE, The Associated Press Jim Morrison of Hillsboro, N.H., cuts lumber Friday in Patenaude Lumber Co. in Henniker, N.H. Overseas competition, a bad winter and reduction of West Coast lumber have made it tough for Northeast lumber mills to do business. England's operations feel like they are under siege. "They are in brutal competition for the best quality (pine) logs," said state Agriculture Commissioner Steve Taylor, who highlighted the dilemma in his Weekly Market Bulletin last week.

"Overseas buyers can outbid our guys." And they are buying millions of board feet. Rand said one ship can carry 3 million board feet, three times the annual capacity of his small mill. At times, five ships are lined up waiting to be loaded in Portsmouth Harbor and more are sailing from Portland, he said. He said the mills can't compete with the big dollars of foreign buyers. "You can't expect a logger who has been having trouble during mud season and winter and needs the money to ignore it," Rand said.

"Unfortunately for us, that leaves saw mills in the area scrambling to get decent saw logs. "We get stuck basically with what they don't want." He said Canadian buyers also pick up better logs, because their costs gener ally are lower thanks to government help, including lower medical and workers compensation costs, a major factor in the industry. They also can sell their finished product for less. White pine is used for construction finish work, including trim, as well as for cabinets and furniture. Charles Needling, executive director of the state Timberland Owners Association, said Canadian sawmills also benefit because their truckers haul logs north for processing and- carry finished lumber south when they head back for a new load of raw wood.

They don't have to run empty, which helps them cut operating costs and pay more for the logs. New Hampshire operations don't have that luxury because after dropping off a load of lumber somewhere on the East Coast, there are no logs to carry back to the mill. Rand said that if mills are forced to pay more for the raw materials, customers will pay more for the processed lumber. "To get logs in and get quality, we have to jack the price we pay for logs and that has an effect on the price you pay for lumber," he said. But, he said, the mills can only charge so much without driving customers away.

Needling said every increase in operating cost makes mills less competitive, but he said the combination of factors is good for woodland owners and managers, who are selling the logs. Even so, he worries that "unrestricted foreign demand for our resources can have very profound negative, long-term implications." Rand agreed and suggested some sort: of quota should be considered to protect the industry, and the future timber supply- "I don't mind shipping some logs overseas," Rand said, "but I think we have to be looking ahead to our future timber supply. Are we going to have enough for our future housing market?" Boston mayor will resign today GETTING SOME Flynn said in a resignation letter. "The privilege to serve as mayor of this city will be hard to match, regardless of where my career in public service may lead over the coming year," the mayor wrote. Flynn said his greatest achievement was to connect downtown Boston with its outlying neighborhoods, and the neighborhoods with each other.

The Associated Press BOSTON Mayor Raymond Flynn, scheduled to resign at the close of business today, said he is leaving behind "the greatest job in the world" to become ambassador to the Vatican. "But in taking my leave, I can assure the people of this city that regardless of where Kathy, the kids and I may live, Boston is our home," "The job of the mayor of Boston is to bring peo-; pie together to create opportunity," Flynn said. ''That job cannot be done from behind a desk. It is far too easy for offices to become palaces and desks to become barricades." City Council President Tom Menino is to take over as acting mayor at 5 p.m. today.

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