Courtesy Paul Post
By Paul Post
Officials are scrambling to help North Country loggers save their livelihoods after Finch Paper LLC’s surprise decision to cease pulp-making operations by year’s end.
Founded in 1865, the company is Glens Falls’ oldest, largest and last heavy industrial employer, with approximately 600 workers.
For decades, loggers harvesting Adirondack timber have supplied the mill’s on-site pulp production, a precursor to papermaking. The mill has used 600,000 tons of timber annually, representing 30%-35% of the region’s low-grade pulpwood market, not just New York state.
Finch will instead obtain pulp from outside sources in a cost-saving move it says is needed to remain financially viable.
“What happens when the market has way more wood than it can absorb?” said Courtney Johnson-Woods, executive director of the Empire State Forest Products Association. “It’s going to have a ripple effect. It’s not just going to be people supplying Finch. I’ve had calls from loggers saying this will put me out of business.”
The impact on loggers is one of several far-reaching economic, environmental and public safety concerns. Firms that sell, service and repair their expensive equipment could be hurt, and falling timber demand would reduce income for property owners whose trees are harvested.
