Plum Creek cuts back activity at C. Falls sawmill

Montana's largest private timberland owner, Plum Creek Timber Co., is curtailing operations at its Columbia Falls sawmill because of a lack of large logs, company officials announced this week.

Sawmill operations are being reduced, with the reduction focused on a production line handling large-diameter logs, said Hank Rickless, company vice president of manufacturing operations in Columbia Falls.

The cutback affects about 45 positions at the mill, but those employees were offered transfers Monday to jobs at Plum Creek's plywood and fiberboard plants in the Flathead Valley, Rickless said. The company employees roughly 1,000 people in the Flathead.

"They've all been reassigned to our other plants," he said Tuesday. "I think most of them reported for duty today."

Plum Creek owns 8.2 million acres in 18 states, and its 1.2 million acres in Montana historically has helped provide a stable timber supply to manufacturing operations in the western part of the state. But it still relies heavily on timber from other sources, Rickless said.

"I think that a lot of people would be surprised to know that just over half of the logs processed come from our own timberlands," he said.

The company sources the rest of its logs from federal, state, tribal and smaller timberland owners, he said.

The U.S. Forest Service's reduced timber program in Montana has affected Plum Creek, notably reducing the supply of larger logs, he added.

"It's especially difficult when the Forest Service has shifted its emphasis to the small timber thinning sales rather than the mixed-age stands that they historically put up for sale," Rickless said. "On average, timber is getting smaller. It's just a lot tighter supply situation."

News of the cutback led to a "miscommunication" Monday with the staff of Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., Rickless said.

Rehberg's staff mistakenly thought the company was laying off 45 people, prompting the congressman to pursue federal grants for unemployment, employment training and other assistance.

"It's not necessary because we have employment at our other mills for these workers," Rickless said.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at [email protected].