美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why higher winter temperatures are affecting the logging industry

Why higher winter temperatures are affecting the logging industry

Transcript¹

It's been an unusually warm winter in the Northeast. Loggers there need frozen ground to reach some forested areas. (Story first aired on Jan. 21, 2023 on Weekend Edition Saturday.)

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A warm winter in the Northeast is making it harder for loggers to do their jobs. Here's Henry Epp from our member station Vermont Public Radio.

HENRY EPP, BYLINE²: Brian Lafoe is operating a machine called a forwarder in a patch of woods in East Burke, a small town in northeastern Vermont. He maneuvers³ a mechanized arm to pick up logs that his son-in-law felled, split and piled along a road they cut through the forest. The heavy machinery⁴ has left ruts in the ground. Usually that's not an issue at this time of year.

BRIAN LAFOE: In the wintertime, you got this wet ground. The ground gets froze up. Our machines go over it good. We don't do no damage.

EPP: But on this sunny January morning, the temperature is starting to rise above freezing. And that means Lafoe can't run the forwarder much longer or else he'll start to damage the soil. Winter is a crucial season for loggers like Lafoe. Typically, the frozen ground allows them to access sensitive wooded areas like this nearly every day. But this year, temperatures surged into the 50s in early January, and there's mud and ice where there should be deep snow.

LAFOE: You shouldn't be able to see this ground. We should have snow right now. Life should be good. It should be zero degrees. We should be going.

EPP: Instead, this job has taken Lafoe about two weeks longer than normal, and he'll have to do more work in the summer to repair the rutted logging trails. All told, he guesses the weather will increase his costs by about 17%. Luckily, he paid off all his equipment, like the forwarder, years ago.

LAFOE: I guess a good way to put it - if I didn't own all this stuff, I probably wouldn't be doing it right now. I'd be retired⁵.

DAVID SENIO: But I think this is shades of things to come.

EPP: This is David Senio, the forester working with Brian Lafoe on this project. With climate change, winters are becoming shorter and more unpredictable in Vermont. Cutting down trees which store carbon could be adding to that climate impact. But Senio argues there's also a climate-positive effect of logging. Responsibly managing forests can make them healthier in the long run. But warming winters limit how often loggers can do that work.

SENIO: How do you make more productive days in a year? You don't.

EPP: And, Senio says, all of Vermont's $1.4 billion forest products industry is impacted by the changing climate - not just loggers, but sawmill operators, too.

(SOUNDBITE OF MACHINE SAWING)

EPP: Goodridge Lumber⁶ in Albany, Vt., relies on loggers like Brian Lafoe for the wood that's running through their sawmill. Workers feed white cedar⁷ logs along a spinning saw blade, cutting them into posts and boards. But because loggers haven't been able to harvest as much this year, owner Colleen Goodridge says her sawmill's store of fresh logs is running low.

COLLEEN GOODRIDGE: This year, we don't have that extra inventory⁸ that we had last year. So we are hoping that, you know, we have a strong next few weeks.

EPP: Sales are good right now, Goodridge says, but it's not clear how long that will last. She's thinking of ways to diversify⁹ her business, like finding markets for lower-quality wood. Still, she's trying to be optimistic about the rest of the season.

GOODRIDGE: I'm hopeful. And, you know, we've had cold weather in April. We've had Aprils that hung on and hung on and hung on. So we just don't know.

EPP: Goodridge has been in the lumber business for 49 years. Her sons are now co-owners. But she's worried about the future of this industry in Vermont. High costs and the unpredictability of a changing climate make it a tough business for young people to enter.

GOODRIDGE: They say to live is to experience change. Well, you know, I guess we're living.

EPP: Goodridge just hopes the logging industry can adapt to all this change.

For NPR News, I'm Henry Epp in northern Vermont.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 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。

3 maneuvers   

n.策略，谋略，花招( maneuver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He suspected at once that she had been spying upon his maneuvers. 他立刻猜想到，她已经侦察到他的行动。 来自辞典例句
• Maneuvers in Guizhou occupied the Reds for four months. 贵州境内的作战占了红军四个月的时间。 来自辞典例句

4 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 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。

7 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

8 inventory   

n.详细目录，存货清单

参考例句：

• Some stores inventory their stock once a week.有些商店每周清点存货一次。
• We will need to call on our supplier to get more inventory.我们必须请供应商送来更多存货。

9 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。