Future Logging Careers Act introduced

U.S. Sens. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Angus King, I-Maine, and U.S. Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-Pa., have introduced the Future Logging Careers Act in the Senate and House of Representatives. This legislation would level the playing field for the logging trade with other agricultural fields by allowing family members to learn about and get experience in the trade of logging from an earlier age so that they may carry on the family business.

“The agriculture industry currently enjoys regulatory exemptions that permit family members to participate and learn the operations of the family business under the direction and supervision of their parents,” said Senator Risch. “However, young men and women in families who own and operate timber harvesting companies are denied the opportunity to work and learn the family trade until the age of 18.”

The bill, Risch said, would equip young loggers with the knowledge and experience needed to carry on the family trade.

The bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 so that 16 and 17-year-olds would be allowed to work in mechanized logging operations under parental supervision.