LANCASTER, N.H. (AP) – The news wasn’t good at the annual “Mud Breakfast” for the state’s loggers, foresters and timberland owners last week.

A year after the Fraser Papers Inc. pulp mill in Berlin closed, the market for wood is in the doldrums.

University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension forest markets expert Sarah Smith said there is still some demand for spruce fir, but the market for white pine is down because fewer new homes are being built.

And even prices for sugar maple, highly prized by furniture makers for its beauty, have fallen because so much furniture manufacturing has shifted to China, which obtains wood from Southeast Asia, she said.

One bright spot is white oak, which is popular in Europe, Smith said. The market for low-grade wood also should improve in the next two years, if two companies hoping to build wood-burning power plants in Berlin and Northumberland succeed in their efforts.

State Rep. Fred King, R-Berlin, noted the Legislature just passed a bill requiring the state to get 25 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2025. He said that would help stimulate wood and wind energy developments in the North Country.