Zinke Statement on Montana Timber Businesses Closing

WASHINGTON – This weekRoseburg Forest Products announced it will be shutting down its Missoula particle board plant in mid-May. This comes less than a week after Pyramid Lumber, Seeley Lake’s largest employer and one of the oldest family-owned lumber mills in Western Montana, announced it will close its doors soon due to economic pressures.

Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke released the following statement:

“The announcement from Roseburg is another devastating blow to western Montana’s rich timber heritage and the greater community. Within a week, two of Montana’s legacy forestry businesses announced their closures due to difficult economic headwinds caused by the Biden Administration. Rising cost of manufacturing, energy, housing, inflation, and labor shortages are all compounded by the fact that the federal forests that supply raw materials are being completely mismanaged and board feet reduced to levels that make operations unsustainable. With no materials close by, they are forced to supply logs from farther away; the farther raw materials have to travel the more expensive they become. I fear we will see more announcements like these as mom-and-pop businesses that supplied to Pyramid and Rosebud feel the downstream effects. I will continue to push for common sense forest management reforms and urge the Senate to pick up the House approved tax cuts and other legislation to fight inflation. My heart goes out to all the workers who are impacted, and my office is preparing a list of area businesses in similar industries that are hiring.”

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