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Plum Creek Timber Announces Montana Plant Closures

The Associated Press

COLUMBIA FALLS, Mont. (AP) — Plum Creek Timber Co. says the weak housing construction market requires closing the company's facilities at Evergreen, next to Kalispell, and eliminating the jobs of 63 people.

The Seattle-based company on Thursday announced the June 26 closures of its Evergreen sawmill and a facility that removes defects from wood and processes it into stud-grade lumber. The closures will be indefinite, Plum Creek said.

"The company's manufacturing business has been hard hit by industry turbulence over the past several months," said Rick Holley, Plum Creek president and chief executive. Holley said the company has "done everything possible to keep these facilities running," but improving their efficiency is not enough to sustain them.

"The housing market remains dormant for new construction, which is directly tied to the wood products we make at the Evergreen plants," Holley said.

The Evergreen mill closed in early January and restarted in May.

Plum Creek also is preparing to close its sawmill in Pablo, where 87 employees got the federally required 60-day notice in April. Evergreen workers received similar notice, as did Plum Creek employees in Columbia Falls.

The company said Thursday that a slight improvement in prices for the pine boards manufactured in Columbia Falls likely will allow the mill there to continue running, if operating costs are reduced.

In March, Plum Creek permanently closed its mill near Eureka, shedding 90 jobs.