ORONO – International experts in the field will speak about the state of the pulp and paper industry at a conference in Bangor next month.

Speakers will include private industry analysts, paper company executives, state and federal government officials and University of Maine faculty members.

“The Current State of Maine’s Pulp and Paper Industry: Challenges, Strengths and Opportunities” will be held from 11:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Friday, April 4, in the College Center at University College in Bangor. Free and open to the public, the conference is sponsored by the University of Maine College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture and the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy at the university.

“This is a timely topic, one where the university can lend its expertise and work with its collaborators to provide solid information, current information, useful information to policy-makers and others on the state’s largest single business,” says Bob Rice, professor of wood science and the conference organizer.

The pulp and paper industry is the eighth largest business sector in the country. In Maine, the industry represents one-third of the state’s manufacturing economy with sales exceeding $4 billion annually.

The April 4 conference will focus on the current state of the industry and future trends in light of the bankruptcy of Great Northern Paper Inc., which at one time produced the most paper of any mill in the country. Other mills in Maine have laid off workers and temporarily shut down in recent years.

The conference is free, but those who wish to attend must register by March 31. For program information, contact Bob Rice at 581-2883. To register or for travel directions, call 581-1648 or visit the conference Web site at: http://www.umaine.edu/mcsc/paperconf.htm.