Former Swamp Loggers star calling for pandemic relief for industry

CURRIE, NC (WWAY) — Deep in the Pender County woods you’ll find the Goodson’s All-Terrain Logging crew, known for the TV series “Swamp Loggers” that ran for three years on the Discovery Channel. A company that has been in business for generations is facing one of their biggest hurdles yet in 2020 with the impacts of the coronavirus.

“All the export markets were shut down,”says Goodson’s All-Terrain Logging Owner Bobby Good. “I mean you’re talking about thousands of loads of wood going to these export markets in Morehead and Wilmington. All of sudden overnight they’re shut down because there’s nobody in China to unload the boats where the wood was going.”

The shutdown put the logging industry in a bind like they’ve never seen before on this scale. According to the American Loggers Council, a recent analysis showed that a decrease in raw wood material consumption led to a $1.83 billion dollar reduction in value. The setback has forced the logging industry to ask for government assistance, but under the current guidelines, they don’t qualify for agricultural aid.

“Logging is farming, our rotations are on 20 years, you know versus every year with farms,” Goodson said. “We fall under the umbrella of farming and just like them we’ve been hit with something that’s no fault of our own.”

Goodson is a 5th generation logger and he says his family has never asked for government funding. Although they’re not too proud to admit when the industry needs help and that’s now.

“We’ve never asked for help,” Goodson said. “I just wish the government, the president, whoever makes the decision would look at it and just lean in a little bit and help us. I mean the farmers have a lot of different programs that help them when they get in a bind and we are farming and all we need is little help right now.”

Goodson and his company aren’t the only famous loggers to speak out on the issue. Eldon and Rudy Pelletier the stars of American Loggers recorded a statement on the problems the industry is facing back in August.

Congress and the United States Department of Agriculture have provided relief
funding for numerous agricultural categories, they have not yet classified timber within the category that qualifies for COVID-19 assistance.