With images of loaded 18-wheelers rolling off the Golden Road and characters name
“Bone Crusher,” the Discovery Channel’s program “American Loggers” captured a
national audience and portrayed a part of Maine’s economy. Has the docu-drama, which
followed the Gerald Pelletier Logging company’s ups and downs of harvesting and
hauling trees to mills, accurately portrayed the business? Or was it too long on drama and
too short on documentary? Will the publicity pay off for Maine, perhaps through
in-migration or tourism? Or will people watching the show in, say, Cleveland, come away
believing that everything north of Portland looks like the scenes from the show?