Idaho Lieutenant Governor Brad Little recognized Alta Forest Products, Naples Mill, as one of five statewide recipients of the 2016 Idaho Awards for Leadership in Energy Efficiency.

On Nov. 1, 2016, Alta Forest Products, Naples Mill, established in the early 1900s and now the world’s largest producer of cedar fencing pickets, received the 2016 Energy Efficiency award along with Lamb Weston – American Falls Plant, Jerome Cheese - Jerome, J.R. Simplot Company – “Don Plant” – Pocatello, and ON Semiconductor – Pocatello.

The award highlights the Idaho organizations that are exceptional state leaders in implementing energy efficiency at their local facilities.

In an Oct. 17, 2016 press release, the Idaho Governor’s Office of Energy Resources stated that each organization has shown an enduring commitment to reduce their energy use and environmental impacts in the state.

“It wasn’t an easy award to receive,” said Ryan Comer, Alta Operations Manager of Naples. “We worked really hard. Every project that we worked on, we would take a step back and ask how we could produce more, but yet be good stewards and save energy.”

According to Comer, the projects implemented by the recipients of the award would save enough energy to power over 1,100 Idaho homes for a year; which demonstrates that the recipient organizations are exceptional state leaders in implementing energy efficiency at their local facilities.

Alta operates four sawmills across the Pacific and Inland Northwest, all of which are designed to manufacture boards for residential fencing.

Its flagship mill in Morton, Wash., cuts exclusively Western Red Cedar and is acclaimed to be the fastest lumber mill of any kind in the world on a board-per-minute basis.

Alta’s Shelton, Wash., and Naples, Idaho mills are designed to cut small, tight-knot Western Red Cedar logs, while its Amanda Park, Wash., mill is primarily dedicated to making pre-stained fence boards cut from other high performance species found in the Northwest.

The recipients of the 2016 State of Idaho Award for Excellence in Commercial Energy Efficiency were Brigham Young University – Idaho, City of Jerome Wastewater Facility, and the Idaho Educational Services for the Deaf and the Blind. The Idaho National Laboratory also received the 2016 Governor’s Award for Leadership in Energy Efficiency.