Good news for the logging industry: Maine college students are training for careers as loggers with new, updated machines.
As he took students for some hands-on training into TA-R7, a piece of forest in Maine, Donald Burr, head coordinator of the Mechanized Logging Operators Programs, said that experience outside the classroom was getting them ready for their careers, WSAW reported.
"We are giving them, as students, the very foundation of what it takes to be loggers," said Burr.
Northern Maine Community College's 12-week mechanized logging program teaches students how to use the latest technology in the industry, including high-tech machines and GPS systems.
For student Ben Tuttle, the program will help him follow in his father's footsteps. Tuttle said he was drawn to logging as a child, due to "the cool equipment and how big it was and just being in the woods," WSAW reported.
The state's logging industry has seen its share of struggles, according to Maine Senator Angus King. It's the digital age, King said, that has caused a drop in demand for paper. But King said he believes cross laminated timber will help bolster the industry.
But no matter what comes next, Burr is prepared to help ready Maine's next generation of loggers.
"There's a lot of acres, millions of acres, in wood — and that's a lot of money, waiting for the next product," Burr said.
