美国国家公共电台 NPR--Inflation hits the Maine logging industry

Inflation hits the Maine logging industry

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Rising fuel prices, equipment costs and supply chain delays are squeezing loggers in Maine. The challenges began two years ago, but now inflation poses tough questions for the industry. Nicole Ogrysko from Maine Public Radio has the story.

NICOLE OGRYSKO, BYLINE¹: Jim Robbins worries about the rising cost of paying his employees and powering his white pine sawmill near the Maine coast. But what really keeps him up at night is what he'll do if the independent loggers he relies on can't bring him the wood he needs to run his mill.

JIM ROBBINS: We grow trees really well in the state of Maine, but you've got to have the people to go out and cut that wood and bring it to the mills. And you can have a great lumber² mill, but you're not going to have a great lumber mill if you don't have the loggers out there to bring that wood to the mills.

OGRYSKO: The price of diesel³ has doubled within the last year. It's now more than $6 a gallon in Maine. Robbins is helping⁴ truckers cover some fuel costs, and he says he's paying more now for the logs and fiber⁵ that his independent contractors⁶ bring to his mill. And while most mills in Maine are now paying a bonus to offset⁷ the cost of fuel, the last six months of volatility⁸ and supply chain challenges have forced some loggers to question whether they'll continue on in the business.

(SOUNDBITE OF BRANCHES CRACKING UNDERFOOT)

OGRYSKO: For Thomas Douglass, there isn't much of a choice. He usually looks forward to the end of spring when the dirt roads dry up and independent loggers like himself return to the woods.

THOMAS DOUGLASS: Usually when we're getting ready to roll stuff out of the garage, I'm just like a kid in a candy store. I want to see things get back to work. I want to see guys get back to work.

OGRYSKO: But this spring, everything is more expensive.

DOUGLASS: It was the least I ever looked forward to going back to work after one season, I guess. Let's put it that way.

OGRYSKO: Douglass estimates the cost of running his business has gone up between 20% and 30% over the last two years, and especially in the last six months.

(SOUNDBITE OF PROCESSOR TAKING DOWN TREES)

OGRYSKO: But he is back in the woods checking on his crew that's clearing white birch and other trees for pulpwood.

DOUGLASS: That machine right there, I was told the other day by the equipment dealer⁹ I bought that machine from - I don't know if it was worth it or not, but its cost was another $80,000 higher a year later on a machine that was plenty expensive in the first place.

OGRYSKO: Like Robbins, some mills in Maine are paying slightly more now for raw fiber. That's helped, but the volatility has forced loggers to scale back their operations, retire or leave the industry altogether, says Dana Doran, the executive director of the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine. And some aren't returning to the woods at all this spring.

DANA DORAN: They have either shut down, seen employees leave for greener pastures and they haven't been able to replace them, so they don't, or they've moved into other occupations. They are trucking other commodities. They might be trucking water, or they're trucking finished lumber.

OGRYSKO: Or they're clearing land for developers to build new solar farms. Forest economists¹⁰ believe the market will eventually adjust, and more mills will need to pay more for wood. If they don't, loggers will leave the business, which economists say could have a lasting¹¹ effect on Maine's forest industry. But for Douglass, he is too young to retire at age 32. He might sell one of his logging machines that's sitting in the garage if he can't find and hire the crews to operate it. But it's too soon to leave the business behind, challenging as it is.

DOUGLASS: I would say it's surviving - definitely not thriving but surviving, and probably just that.

OGRYSKO: Whatever happens to the industry, Douglass just hopes it stays strong enough to eventually entice¹² his young sons into the business.

For NPR News, I'm Nicole Ogrysko in Parkman, Maine.

(SOUNDBITE OF BENN JORDAN SONG, "LEAVES")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

3 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

6 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

8 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

9 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

10 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

12 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。