Opinion: Local logger questions CMP corridor

SUN JOURNAL • February 28, 2021

I do mostly selective cutting of wood lots the old way, with a chainsaw and cable skidder. Why, if the new power line through our state is supposed to bolster the economy and provide local jobs, has CMP contracted with an out-of-state company for land clearing? The forest products industry in Maine has taken a big hit, between the era of electronics and Internet, COVID-19, and the loss of the digester at the Jay mill. If any of the lumber is sold from the massive amounts of wood being decimated from the clearing of this project, it will drown the already-flooded wood commodity market. Is CMP managing the forest they “own” sustainably? Is the power line really “green?” ~ Bryce Bilodeau, Livermore Falls, self-employed logger