美国国家公共电台 NPR In Idaho Lumber Country, Trump Voters Wait To See If He Can Jumpstart Jobs

In Idaho Lumber¹ Country, Trump² Voters Wait To See If He Can Jumpstart Jobs 

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A few weeks before the election, the Tri-Pro Lumber Mill in North Idaho shut down. It was the second timber mill to close in the area in six months. Now, this part of the country is a Republican stronghold, and as NPR's Kirk Siegler reports, there are mixed feelings there on whether President-elect Trump can help the industry recover.

KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE⁴: Two mill closures putting a hundred people out of work is a big deal for any community, but it's especially a shock for a small, tight-knit town like Orofino, Idaho, population 3,000.

MIKE REGGEAR: Yeah, as of October 4 - was the closure date to the saw mill.

SIEGLER: So most of the offices have emptied out apart from yours, and...

REGGEAR: Correct.

SIEGLER: The only employee left on the Tri-Pro payroll⁵ is Mike Reggear, the manager. He's tying up some loose ends. The shuttered lumber yard is eerily⁶ quiet - the old mill, the kilns⁷, the saws ready to be hauled out.

REGGEAR: You know, it's - (laughter) it's going to be a struggle, quite honestly. It really is. I mean they were living-wage jobs that now have been lost.

SIEGLER: The story behind Tri-Pro's closure is an all too familiar one lately in North Idaho. Reggear says there just weren't enough local logs available to keep the saw mill running and profitable. Imports from Canada are cheaper, and the amount of federal land around here open to logging has dropped tenfold since the 1980s. But just like any economic story in rural America right now, it's more complicated than that.

Timber towns like Orofino that are situated⁸ along railroad lines and rivers were put on the map more than a hundred years ago when it seemed like there was a limitless supply of timber in these woods and the federal government actively⁹ promoted logging. But the environmental mood of the country is a lot different today, and so is the economy. Mechanization has meant that fewer people are needed to log the woods and work in the mills.

(CROSSTALK)

SIEGLER: One night over Coors Lights at the Ponderosa Restaurant in town, Jerry Spencer says he feels lucky he can still find work as a logger around here.

JERRY SPENCER: Logging anymore's about an eight-month-a-year deal, so we try to diversify¹¹ a little bit because - can't live on eight months a year.

SIEGLER: Spencer and a buddy¹² had been splitting time between here and the oil fields over in North Dakota until oil prices tanked. He's not that eager to talk politics, but he's glad Donald Trump won.

SPENCER: I really hope that things are going to be better, but I'm not going to bet on it just yet, you know? I'm Republican. Almost everybody in this county is Republican. It's logging, resource-based county, and that's just how it is.

SIEGLER: Spencer isn't that optimistic because he says that even if Trump were to open up more federal land to timber companies, there's hardly any infrastructure¹³ left. But he says the president-elect's talk about returning to a time when natural resources were king resonates here.

SPENCER: Those resources is what built this country. I mean you say what you want, but it was all built off of mining, timber, oil. You know, the United States wasn't built off of tech companies.

SIEGLER: Folks around Orofino are proud of their heritage as loggers and miners. Today, Clearwater County has one of the highest unemployment rates in Idaho.

In the small downtown, there are for-lease signs and empty storefronts. A lot of people work two or three jobs at the school, the Best Western or for one of the outfitters where they have to commute¹⁴ 40 miles downriver to Lewiston. But when it comes to the latest mill closure, most folks will tell you everyone's seen this coming for years.

CHRIS ST GERMAINE: Well, the first thing you do is, you know, cuss and kick the ground and rant¹⁰ a little bit, but the second is, you pull yourself up by those bootstraps and figure, OK, where do we go from here?

SIEGLER: Chris St. Germaine moved to Orofino to take a job with the Forest Service in the '80s. She now runs the county's one-person Office of Economic Development where she's trying to figure out how to diversify the economy.

And it hasn't been all doom¹⁵ and gloom. A new rifle scope manufacturer opened up. So did a jet boat company. The hope is to draw more manufacturers that cater¹⁶ to the fishing and hunting economy.

ST GERMAINE: Drift boating is something that I think that would go over very well here. And there's a lot of drift boats on the river today if you look because they're fishing for steelhead and salmon¹⁷.

SIEGLER: But this is all long-term stuff, and it's not going to help people like Pat Goetz, who's trying to figure out what she can do for work right now.

PAT GOETZ: Good question (laughter) - I don't know.

SIEGLER: She lost her job and - worse, she says - her health insurance when the mill shut down. So far, she says the only job she's seeing advertised are minimum wage.

GOETZ: Once you take timber out of the equation in counties like Idaho County, Clearwater County, there isn't much else.

SIEGLER: Goetz is 63. She's not yet eligible¹⁸ for Medicare, and she's not sure if she can afford the cost of health care on the exchanges. She also didn't think twice about voting for Trump. She's hoping he can bring back timber towns like hers.

GOETZ: Young kids have to go somewhere else in order to make a living. My children had to move out. My youngest daughter did and her husband.

SIEGLER: Goetz says she gets depressed¹⁹ watching, as she puts it, an industry that's being strangled to death. Kirk Siegler, NPR News, Orofino, Idaho.

1 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

6 eerily   

adv.引起神秘感或害怕地

参考例句：

• It was nearly mid-night and eerily dark all around her. 夜深了，到处是一片黑黝黝的怪影。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
• The vast volcanic slope was eerily reminiscent of a lunar landscape. 开阔的火山坡让人心生怪异地联想起月球的地貌。 来自辞典例句

7 kilns   

n.窑( kiln的名词复数 )；烧窑工人

参考例句：

• Bricks and earthware articles are baked in kilns. 砖和陶器都是在窑中烧成的。 来自辞典例句
• The bricks are baking in the kilns. ？里正在烧砖。 来自辞典例句

8 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

9 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

10 rant   

v.咆哮；怒吼；n.大话；粗野的话

参考例句：

• You can rant and rave at the fine,but you'll still have to pay it.你闹也好，骂也好，罚金还是得交。
• If we rant on the net,the world is our audience.如果我们在网络上大声嚷嚷，全世界都是我们的听众。

11 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

12 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

13 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

14 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

15 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

16 cater   

vi.(for/to)满足，迎合；(for)提供饮食及服务

参考例句：

• I expect he will be able to cater for your particular needs.我预计他能满足你的特殊需要。
• Most schools cater for children of different abilities.大多数学校能够满足具有不同天资的儿童的需要。

17 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

18 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

19 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。