Maine lawmakers seek fed relief for logging industry

(The Center Square) — Maine’s congressional delegation is pushing to create a disaster fund for the nation’s forestry products industry to help offset financial losses from increasingly violent storms and other natural disasters.

The bipartisan Loggers Economic Assistance and Relief Act, which is co-sponsored by Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, would establish a new program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support loggers who have lost income as a result of fires, flooding and other natural disasters.