Mill Closure and Renewal News Roundup

As we know, the timber industry in various parts of the country is not in good shape. But it is interesting in terms of roadless talking points… that loggers will be allowed into roadless areas willy-nilly. You’d think someone would have to pick a lane on this- timber as ravenous beast or sick puppy, but .. no. To be sure, the industry is healthier in some parts of the country than others.

What have we heard in the last few weeks?

Closing of the mill in Hulett Wyoming. From Cowboy State Daily:

The company cited a number of factors in a Facebook post about the closure, including high input costs, a limited labor pool, scarce housing, and sustained downward pricing trends. Wyoming’s timber industry has also been struggling for years.

“No single issue brought us here,” the company, owned by Doug and Dena Mills, said in its post. “It was the weight of many.”

The closure is a jolt to the community, whose identity and economy have long been tied to timber and agriculture.

Mayor Brian Kennah estimated the closure leaves about 5% of Hulett’s 349 people looking for work.

Colorado has hope when Neiman bought the Montrose mill but it is going under as well. From the Denver Post business section.

“This is just the latest example of a struggling industry,” said Megan Maxwell, executive director of the Colorado Timber Industry Association. “Losing our biggest mill is going to have a ripple effect across the remaining industry.”

Montrose Forest Products was one of only three commercial-scale mills left in a state that has seen its count fall from 87 to 33, mostly small mills, since 1987, Maxwell said.

The two big players remaining are Colorado Timber Resources near Granby, which focuses on processing beetle-kill timber, and Blanca Forestry Products in Costilla County, a more traditional maker of construction-grade lumber.

Without a viable timber market, restoring forests at scale in Colorado could become much more expensive, Maxwell said.

Both of the above mills are owned by Neiman. As far as I can tell, that leaves them with mills in Spearfish SD and Gilchrist, OR.

And again, it appears that the Lake Tahoe area is trying to go in a different direciton..

The demonstration is part of a new initiative, called Tahoe Wood, which aims to boost local wood utilization to bolster forest health, reduce wildfire risk and support the local community. The initiative, which started earlier this year, is a collaboration between the Tahoe Earth Institute, Tahoe Prosperity Center, and Berkeley Wood Lab. Other demonstration organizers include the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), Lake Tahoe Community College, South Tahoe High School, Cody’s Tree Service, Sierra Business Council, and Tahoe Resource Conservation District.

In one of four demonstrations throughout the day, a crescent moon of high schoolers, college students and other participants surrounded the portable sawmill and watched as its operator from Cody’s Tree Service transformed trees into two-by-six-inch boards.

Here’s what Google AI says about Tahoe Wood.

Tahoe Wood is a collaborative regional initiative—rather than a standalone institute—focused on boosting local wood utilization, reducing wildfire risks, and supporting forest health and small-scale entrepreneurship in the Lake Tahoe region.

Key Details of Tahoe Wood

• Core Partners: A collaboration between the Tahoe Earth Institute, Tahoe Prosperity Center, and Berkeley Wood Lab, with support from local agencies like the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), Lake Tahoe Community College, and South Tahoe High School.
• Mission: To map and build local markets for excess forest biomass and thinned timber from regional restoration projects, turning local trees into usable building materials instead of hauling or disposing of them off-site.
• Projects & Demonstrations: Features portable sawmill demonstrations (such as at Lake Tahoe Community College) where local students and builders process thinned logs into lumber for community-benefit projects like local bus shelters.

It reminds me of the baseball cap I have from the Colorado Stste Forest Service, “local people, local wood.”. And here we still are.

Perhaps some philanthropic organizations could team up with local people to keep sawmills, or bioenergy or other wood utilization efforts open? Maybe some have and if you know about them you can share in the comments. When I was working with the mountain pine beetle in Colorado, out Wilderness Society friends said that they couldn’t support biomass because they were afraid of it generating its own industrial momentume and taking over, like the bad old days with the timber industry. But that was awhile back.

Then there was apparently a rescue of Malheur Lumber in June of this year (Oregon)

The Malheur National Forest has signed a 20-year Stewardship Agreement with Iron Triangle LLC, a John Day-based forest restoration and wood products company. The agreement establishes a framework for landscape-scale forest restoration, hazardous fuels reduction, timber harvesting, watershed improvement, and habitat restoration across the national forest.

“It is critical to have forest products infrastructure available within our local community. This agreement gives us and our partners the stability to plan and deliver restoration at the scale these landscapes require,” said Ann Niesen, Malheur National Forest Supervisor. “It’s about reducing wildfire risk, improving watershed health, and supporting the communities that depend on these forests.”

The agreement comes at a critical time for Grant County. Malheur Lumber — the county’s largest sawmill — permanently closed in early 2025, a loss the Oregon Employment Department estimated at 206 jobs and $58 million annually. Iron Triangle, which employs more than 110 people locally, has acquired the mill’s manufacturing assets and is investing in local processing infrastructure to preserve the region’s wood products capacity.

“The 20-year nature of this agreement provides important long-term stability for our employees and their families,” said Russ Young of Iron Triangle LLC. “It also gives us the stability needed to invest in our workforce, equipment, and infrastructure for the future. Our workforce takes a great deal of pride in the work they do, and this agreement allows them to continue delivering meaningful restoration work that benefits the forest and the surrounding communities.”

Under a stewardship agreement, the Forest Service partners with qualified entities to achieve land management goals. Iron Triangle will perform restoration activities in exchange for forest products generated through those treatments, with the Forest Service reimbursing the difference where service costs exceed timber value. Iron Triangle was selected using a best-approach determination based on past performance, technical capability, community benefit, and mutual interest.

I wonder why major philanthropies are not in this space? They seem to have moved into the wildfire space without much trouble. Maybe it’s too techy or business-y. Or maybe they are and I haven’t heard. I do recall the US Endowment for Forests and Communities working on a torrefaction plant in John Day.

Also federal bucks can help, via wood innovation grants..

Malheur Forest Products owner, Russ Young, said, “We’ve fought through some difficult years to keep people working and keep the forest products industry alive in Grant County. When times were tough, we stayed, we kept investing, and we kept believing in this community. This $2+ million investment will help us build on that commitment by putting Malheur Forest Products back to work, creating family-wage jobs and strengthening the infrastructure needed to actively manage our forests. We’re grateful to USDA and Senators Wyden and Merkley for investing with us in the future of Grant County.”

According to U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, the U.S. Forest Service is investing a total of $15,091,037 across 20 wood innovations projects in Oregon.