I am sure that others will jump in, but here in Texas:

"Ed" wrote in message
m...
I am trying to figure out how trees get to paper mills. My
understanding is that they are harvested by loggers, who put them on a
skider or forwarder, and then put them on logging trucks, and then
they get taken to the mill. Is this correct?

Generally true, varies some what from company to company, region to region.
A lot of the fiber used in paper industry is from chips generated from other
saw mills. In the south we have a class of tree called "chip n saw".
Basically small stems that are run through a chipper head to build a cant
and then through a saw for finished product. Modern mills waste very little
fiber.

If so, are all thesepeople employed by the paper company, or are they
indepant
contractors? are paper companies vertically intergrated?

Both, in Texas a lot of independents. Some companies are vertically
integrated.

also another question:

I've read that paper use in america has sky rocketed , that it has
grown by 10 or 20% since 1998 ( not exactly sure about that figure).
yet over the summer I worked near berlin, NH and the paper mill was
shut down, and many paper companies where selling off their land in
Northern Maine. If paper use is skyrocketing, and demand is
increasing, why would they be closing factories and selling off land?
Are they moving their production to other parts of the country or to
other countries?

One reason is it is currently cheaper to buy paper from Japan, that was made
from chips from American companies, than it is to buy American paper. In
other words, lots of imports. Companies are selling and trading land
(Champion, I-P, Plumb Creek, and others come to mind) to consolidate their
holdings and to make there position stronger. Not real sure if use is
skyrocketing, but reorganization seems to be big, particularly for west
coast companies moving back to the south.

= AKA = Mazimize shot term profits!