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Decision to Shutter Mills Prompts Reaction Congressional delegation blames job losses on mismanagement of Forest Service land
BY TRISTAN SCOTT OF THE BEACON
Four months after absorbing Plum Creek Timber Company, mega-corpora- tion Weyerhaeuser Company’s surprise announcement that it will permanently close its lumber mill and plywood mill in Columbia Falls prompted round upon round of nger-pointing.
Corporate brass blamed a persistent log-supply shortage in the region as the chief culprit, saying its mills have been averaging a 60-70 percent operation capacity. Some politicians blamed the federal government for failing to do its job and open up federal forests for tim- ber harvests, while still others placed the onus on environmental groups for stall- ing timber sales.
While it’s clear that the state’s timber industry has been routed by a multitude of factors, none of the nger-pointing summed up the full scope of the prob- lem, industry analysts and forest man- agers said.
“It is more complex than that,” Flat- head National Forest Supervisor Chip Weber said. “We have been hearing for a long time that industry needs more logs from us, and that is a very real and true phenomenon that we have been work- ing very hard to solve. But it is simplis- tic to say that it is the only reason for the closures.”
Budgetary constraints have put a stranglehold on the National Forest Sys- tem, Weber said, particularly as wild re costs gobble up half of the budget, while forest planning for a wide range of uses is a costly, time-consuming endeavor.
“The fact that re now consumes half our budget every year is huge,” Weber said. “If we could free up those funds to focus on the planning work and produce better forest restoration, that could cer- tainly produce more timber.”
At Weyerhaeuser, the closures are expected to take place in late August or early September, according to the com- pany; coupled with Weyerhaeuser’s ear- lier announcement that it would close its corporate o ces, it will eliminate 200 jobs from the local economy.
The company plans on continual oper- ation of its Kalispell mills and the medi- um-density berboard plant in Columbia Falls.
All a ected workers will have the chance to apply for those jobs, and if they do not get them, will receive severance. Tom Ray, resource team leader for Wey- erhaeuser, also said workers could apply for other jobs in the 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 short- age 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 leader- ship did try to help with log supplies, but haven’t come through.
“Looking at the long-term log supply situation, we certainly applaud the gov- ernor 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 federal government had dropped the ball. “Today’s announcement by Weyerhae- user is yet another extremely disappoint- ing example of the federal government’s failure to do its job,” Bullock said. “For this very reason, I am bringing together the Western Governors to stand up to the federal government and will keep looking for new, responsible ways to open up sup- ply for Montana’s timber industry, and I believe it starts with collaborative, Mon- tana-made solutions. Hard working Mon- tanans 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 sup- ply 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 short- age 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.”
Ray said there were no immediate plans for the infrastructure of the mills regarding sale or simply shuttering them, but it will be determined later in the year.
Columbia Falls City Manager Susan Nicosia called the news that Weyerhae- user would shutter two of its three facil- ities in the community “shocking.” She said the closure and loss of good-paying jobs would have a ripple e ect 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 signi cant 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 a ecting Northwest Montanans.
“These layo s are a major blow to folks in Columbia Falls and across the Flat- head Valley,” Tester said. “I will continue to push to create more job opportunities and increase timber harvests in the Flat- head because I believe it is critical that everyone laid o at Weyerhaeuser 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 hard- working 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 disap- pointing,” Zinke said. “I am frustrated that market conditions have deteriorated to the point where Weyerhaeuser can no longer honor their commitment to main- tain current manufacturing operations in Montana. Ultimately, this closure is a consequence of activists who have strayed away from the multiple use doc- trine 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 o ering real man- agement reforms that will stop the serial litigation and provide meaningful tools to make our forests healthy and pro table once again. Teddy Roosevelt championed the idea of multiple use. It’s time for us to get back to his original intent.”
Activists red back in turn, pointing to Plum Creek’s history of over-harvesting its private lands, and placing the blame on a lagging demand for wood products.
tscott@ atheadbeacon.com
Tom Ray, Montana resource team leader for Weyerhaeuser, discusses the facilities in Columbia Falls. BEACON FILE PHOTO JUNE 29, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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