Viewers watching televised coverage of the third night of the Republican National Convention saw the logging industry get national attention for a brief moment on Wednesday, August 26 when Scott Dane, Executive Director of the Associated Contract Loggers and Truckers of Minnesota, took the stage.
Wearing a suit and tie with a “Making Logging Great Again” cap, Dane addressed his audience from the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. In line with the evening’s theme, “Land of Heroes,” his remarks focused on the contributions the timber industry has made and continues to make to America.
“Logging has been a part of the Great American Story from the beginning,” he said. “If you go to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and look up, you can see loggers on one of the panels — New England settlers carving out a new world from the wilderness.”
Delivering his address after South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and before Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Dane came to the podium at 7:40 p.m. Eastern time and spoke for about two minutes.
“Logging is the most dangerous job in the country, but we embrace that risk because we know America was built by strong people building things together,” he continued. “America needs us to keep building, and we can’t wait to be part of it.”
He went on to blame radical environmentalists and Democrats—including Joe Biden during his tenure as Vice President—for policies that, in his view, contributed to mill closures, job losses and wildfires. Moreover, he accused the Democrats of failing to care. “When plants closed in Duluth, Sartell, Cook and Bemidji, they were just numbers on a paper to the Obama-Biden administration. To me, they were people and jobs and families.”
By contrast, the timber industry advocate praised the current administration’s views. “Under President Trump, we’ve seen a new recognition of the value of forest management in reducing wildfires. And we’ve seen new support for our way of life—where a strong back and a strong work ethic can build a strong middle class.”
In his conclusion, Dane stated, “We want to build families where we’re raised and stand by communities that have stood by us. We want that way of life available for the next generation and we want our forests there, too. President Trump, thank you for helping us do just that.”
Dane’s speech can be seen on YouTube at https://youtu.be/JTyHC2zN2Kk