RUMFORD – Last week’s land sale of about a half-million acres in Maine owned by MeadWestvaco will result in the loss of about 20 forester jobs at the Rumford plant.
Spokesman Steve Hudson said other employees will likely not be affected by the sale of the land to an undisclosed buyer.
“There’ll be no land to manage once this goes through,” he said.
Foresters manage the lands, deciding what and where to cut and plant.
The forester layoffs will take place once the sale is completed, expected by the end of the year. He said the new owners of the land may hire some of MeadWestvaco’s foresters, and have begun interviews, or positions in some of the company’s other forestland divisions may become available. The forestry division for all MeadWestvaco lands is based in South Carolina.
The soon-to-be-sold land will be managed by Wagner Forest Management Ltd. of Lyme, N.H.
MeadWestvaco is selling about 519,000 acres in Maine, mostly in Oxford and Franklin counties, and 110,000 acres in New Hampshire. The company is working with conservation groups and the state for the sale of the remaining 10,000 acres.
Hudson said the company will still own a few small parcels, including the Farrington flyash landfill in Mexico, sites for the firm’s chip plants, such as the one in West Paris, and a few miscellaneous sites.
“We see no significant impact on the operation or employment at the mill,” he said. “There may be some reassigning of responsibilities.”
In a separate matter, Hudson said the No. 11 paper machine was shut down in August for an as-yet undetermined amount of time due to market conditions. That same machine was shut down for seven months last year, coming back up in August 2002.
He said no layoffs have resulted from the downed machine. The No. 11 machine produces paper used in catalogs and magazines.
Running normally are the No. 10 and No. 15 machines that produce glossy paper, the No. 12 that produces one-sided coated paper, and the No. 9 that produces market pulp.
Hudson said the company will continue to evaluate all options as its works through the sale of most of the Maine forestland.
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