In further response to recent lumber company plant closings and concern about the state of Minnesota’s logging industry, Governor Tim Pawlenty announced today that he will meet with industry leaders and local officials in Grand Rapids on Friday.

“The changing marketplace and the uncertain future of local sawmills is creating understandable anxiety for people working in the logging industry,” Governor Pawlenty said. “My administration has been working with the company and affected mill workers since the plant closing was announced last week, and we have been reviewing the options for state assistance following Monday’s meeting of loggers and truckers. I look forward to hearing from these folks first-hand during the course of our meeting on Friday.”

Monday evening, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Commissioner Ward Einess attended a stakeholder meeting convened by the Associated Contract Loggers and Truckers in Grand Rapids where he listened to recommended actions for keeping the forest industry competitive. DEED has also been working with representatives of Ainsworth Lumber Company regarding their announced layoffs at sawmills located in Grand Rapids, Cook, and Bemidji to ensure workers have access to all available state benefits.

Yesterday, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Forest Division Director Dave Epperly attended the Minnesota Forest Industries quarterly meeting in Grand Rapids where the current industry situation was discussed. On Friday, Governor Pawlenty will hear recommendations that have been discussed by industry stakeholders and local officials at these recent meetings. The Governor will also discuss options for state assistance and how best to respond to the current softening of demand for construction material.

The forest products industry is one Minnesota’s largest employers and the industry’s total impact on our state economy is more the $6.9 billion in direct production and value-added production by secondary manufacturing. Minnesota’s forest industry has impact statewide with half of its jobs located in the seven-county metropolitan area.

Approximately 300 workers at Ainsworth Lumber Company plants in Grand Rapids and Cook were notified last week that they would be laid off. The mills have stopped production indefinitely but not permanently. An additional 110 workers were laid off by Ainsworth at its Bemidji plant in August. The high price of wood and a decrease in demand for the oriented strand board produced at the plant have been cited as reasons for the closures.

Since 2003, Governor Pawlenty has been working on issues facing the forest product industry. Pawlenty previously established an Advisory Task Force on the Competitiveness of Minnesota's Primary Forest Products Industry to assess the long-term competitiveness of this manufacturing sector. The nine-member task force included representatives from the Minnesota Departments of Employment and Economic Development and Natural Resources, primary forest products and logging industries, St. Louis County Land Department, and the University of Minnesota.

The task force made several recommendations which include increasing wood and fiber availability, quality, and production from public and private lands; improving the effectiveness of environmental review processes; and increasing investments directed at improving state, county, and private forest health and productivity.

The recommendations were implemented, in part, through legislation, and include the following:
· 2004 legislation established a dedicated fund for reforestation and timber stand improvement, timber sales and commercial thinning contracts/sales, and state forest road maintenance.
· 2005 legislation provided for special vehicle permits that allow increased load limits for hauling paper and other wood products on roads connecting Grand Rapids to Duluth.
· 2005 legislation clarifies when the DNR can/must charge for standing timber and facilitates the efficient contracting for forest improvement work accomplished by loggers.
· 2005 bonding: $2 million for state forest land reforestation, $1 million for county land reforestation, $1.5 million for state forest and Forest Legacy land acquisition, and $300,000 for forest roads and bridges.
· 2006 legislation increases the down payment on a timber sale to 15 percent of the bid value and imposes logger qualifications and a registration system for bidders to comply with certification.
· 2006 bonding: $4 million for state forest land reforestation, $1 million for state forest land acquisition, $7 million for large-scale forest land and Forest Legacy conservation easements, and $1 million for forest roads and bridges.