Montana Forest Products Week is this week, a time designed to recognize forest products and manufacturing.

As part of the week, the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce will host a Timber Tour on Thursday, Oct. 23. 

“We have a whole host of issues to cover,” said Joe Unterreiner,  president of the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce. “The aim of the tour is to illustrate top issues in the timber and wood industry.”

The tour will run from 1 to 5 p.m. and is free to the public. 

Participants will learn about state timber sales, harvesting, products and trends in the forest industry. The event includes tours of the Spencer Lake Timber Sale and Wild Montana Logging to give participants a firsthand look at what the timber industry has to offer. 

One main issue the tour will address is the “wildland urban interface.” 

“We’re seeing houses or developments tucked into wooded areas, and they are so common here in Montana,” Unterreiner said. “This can actually cause fuel to build up.” 

The tour also aims to cover niche market production, infrastructure, the revisions to the Flathead Forest Plan and the Forest and Focus Initiative.

“We’ll be packing a lot of information into a four-hour time frame,” Unterreiner said. “But there’s a lot that needs to be covered. It’s an extremely important industry, especially in this state.” 

Montana Forests Products Week was founded in 2011 by the Montana Legislature as a chance to recognize the forest products manufacturing sector and its contribution to the state’s forests and economy. The week mirrors National Forest Products Week, established by Congress in 1960. 

For Kalispell, the week is an extension of Manufacturing Day on Oct. 3. The day was meant to educate the public about the manufacturing industry in the area. 

In Flathead County, manufacturing made up 35 percent of the basic industry earnings for the period 2011 to 2013, according to the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research 2014 Economic Outlook. The county relies heavily on these manufacturing industries for any type of goods and services, and wood-product manufacturing accounts for 18 percent of that total. 

Montana is home to more than 25 million acres of forested land which provided jobs to approximately 7,000 people in the forestry sector in 2013. The majority of these are scattered throughout the western part of the state. Montana mills produce most of the major wood building materials needed for home and commercial construction, including doors, flooring, window frames, and more. 

“Montana is fortunate to have innovators and entrepreneurs producing hundreds of wood products sold nationally and internationally,” Mo Bookwalter, DNRC Forest Products Specialist, said in a press release. “Not all states have this combination of highly skilled workers and locally available forest resources.”

Across the state, different cities are participating in the week, from educational events for school children to learn about forest management and production, to open houses and tours by forestry production companies.

To learn more about the week, go to www.dnrc.mt.gov

To participate in the Timber Tour, sign up on the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce website at  www.kalispellchamber.com/programs-events.

Reporter Brianna Loper may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at bloper@dailyinterlake.com.