Weyerhaeuser Announces Plans to Close Two Columbia Falls Mills

Updated: June 22, 6:10 p.m. 

Weyerhaeuser Company announced on Wednesday that it plans on permanently closing its lumber mill and plywood mill in Columbia Falls.

The closures are expected to take place in late August or early September, according to a news release from the company.

The company plans on continual operation of its Kalispell mills and the medium-density fiberboard plant in Columbia Falls. According to Tom Ray, Montana resource team leader for Weyerhaeuser, the Columbia Falls employees were told at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

Columbia Falls city manager Susan Nicosia, Flathead County Commissioner Pam Holmquist, and Kalispell Mayor Mark Johnson were also informed on Wednesday, Ray said.

Of the 230 people affected, Ray believes there will be room for about 130 to get shifts in the Kalispell mills. Roughly 100 jobs will be eliminated.

All affected workers will have the chance to apply for those jobs, and if they do not get them, will receive severance. Ray also said workers could apply for other jobs in the Weyerhaeuser company.

Ray said the issue is a short supply of logs, and that the closures were not explicitly planned when Weyerhaeuser absorbed Plum Creek in a merger earlier this year.

“I don’t think it was expected, but we’ve experienced a chronic log shortage for a number of years here,” he said. “After a thorough review and looking at mills, we’ll be in a stronger position by consolidating to the Kalispell facilities and a much stronger long-term chance for success.”

Ray also said Montana political leadership did try to help with log supplies, but haven’t come through.

“Looking at the long-term log supply situation, we certainly applaud the governor and the congressional delegation, but we just haven’t seen an increase of logs coming to market,” Ray said.

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said the state’s Department of Labor and Industry has engaged its Rapid Response Team of the Dislocated Worker program for the workers in Columbia Falls.

“Today’s announcement by Weyerhaeuser is yet another extremely disappointing example of the federal government’s failure to do its job,” Bullock said. “For this very reason, I am bringing together the Western Governor’s to stand up to the federal government and will keep looking for new, responsible ways to open up supply for Montana’s timber industry, and I believe it starts with collaborative, Montana-made solutions. Hard working Montanans shouldn’t have to be forced from good paying jobs when there is critically important work to be done to improve the health of our forests.”

Weyerhaeuser president and CEO Doyle R. Simons pointed at the log supply shortage as reason for the closures.

“For some time now our operations in Montana have been running below capacity as a result of an ongoing shortage of logs in the region,” Simons,  said in the release. “These closures will allow us to align the available log supply with our manufacturing capacity, including adding shifts at our Kalispell facilities. These moves will improve the operating performance of our remaining mills and best position these mills for long-term success.”

The closures follow a decision to move corporate positions that do not support manufacturing in Montana to the Seattle headquarters. This means the company will close its main office in Columbia Falls by the end of the year, according to the release.

That will mean the loss of another 100 administrative and office jobs, which was announced earlier this year.

Ray said there were no immediate plans for the mills regarding sale or simply shuttering them, but it will be determined later in the year.

Nicosia, the Columbia Falls city manager, called the news that Weyerhaeuser would shutter two of its three facilities in the community “shocking.” She said the closure and loss of good paying jobs would have a ripple effect across the community.

“This was unexpected.” she said. “This community still hasn’t fully recovered from the shutdown of the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company in 2009 and there’s a significant portion of the community that either underemployed or working elsewhere.”

“It’s a sad day here,” she added.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, said he would continue to work on timber issues affecting Northwest Montanans.

“These layoffs are a major blow to folks in Columbia Falls and across the Flathead Valley,” Tester said. “I will continue to push to create more job opportunities and increase timber harvests in the Flathead because I believe it is critical that everyone laid off at Weyerhauser has the opportunity to attain a good-paying job here at home.”

Montana U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican, released a statement on the closure, calling the closures “devastating.”

“This is devastating news to the Columbia Falls community and the hardworking families who relied upon these good-paying jobs. This underscores the importance to urgently pass forest reform legislation to get Montana’s abundance of logs to our mills and keep good-paying jobs in our state,” Daines said. 

Montana U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke called the news “disappointing,” and blamed “activists” for shutting down forests.

“This news is nothing short of disappointing,” Zinke said. “I am frustrated that market conditions have deteriorated to the point where Weyerhaeuser can no longer honor their commitment to maintain current manufacturing operations in Montana. Ultimately, this closure is a consequence of activists who have strayed away from the multiple use doctrine to shut our forests down. We can’t work, we can’t hunt, we can’t access our lands, but we can watch our forests burn, I remain committed to offering real management reforms that will stop the serial litigation and provide meaningful tools to make our forests healthy and profitable once again. Teddy Roosevelt championed the idea of multiple use. It’s time for us to get back to his original intent. The status quo is simply unacceptable.”  

This story will be updated as more information is made available.