Alabama logger Bobby Collins spoke with uncertainty as he described the options he will be forced to pursue when an Alabama mill closes.
In addition to the 1,096 International Paper employees who will be displaced when the Courtland mill closes by late March, the closure will also affect an estimated 5,404 loggers and foresters in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, according to the Alabama Forestry Commission.
“It’s a bad situation,” said Collins, who has contracted with IP for 18 years. “We’re going to have to make cuts. The next thing we’ll do is look for other markets.”
Collins operates a family-owned business with six employees that cuts trees and hauls them. He estimated that 80 percent of his business is with International Paper. Future trips to other mills could be more than twice as far as his 25-mile, one-way commute to the Courtland mill.
In addition, Collins worries other companies will not have as great a demand as IP. The Courtland mill accepts 520 loads of wood a day on average, according to IP spokeswoman Laura Gipson. “IP was a monster. There’s no way that there’s something within a 130-mile radius that’s going to carry the load IP carried,” he said.
Without IP, there are 11 remaining paper mills in the state, according to the forestry commission. There are four mills in Mississippi and four in Tennessee.
From TimesDaily.com: https://www.timesdaily.com/news/local/article_30b99d34-3935-11e3-bfb1-10604b9f6eda.html