Profitable Montana lumber mill closing for lack of timber

A northwestern Montana lumber mill will close this spring, eliminating 90 jobs, chiefly because not enough national forest timber is available, its owner said Thursday.

Jim Hurst said Owens & Hurst Lumber Co. likely will close in May and its equipment will be auctioned. The mill is on the edge of Eureka, a timber town with about 1,000 residents and the Kootenai National Forest for a backyard.

Lumber prices are strong and Owens & Hurst has been profitable, Hurst said.

"That’s the heck of it," said Hurst, who employed 170 people at the mill’s peak in the late 1990s. "We’re not going down because the creditors are at our doors."

By SUSAN GALLAGHER Associated Press Writer

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2005/01/27/mtracker/news/90forest.txt

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Eureka mill to close after 25 years

By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian

EUREKA – Wednesday, Jim Hurst reached deep into his bag of tricks, mumbled a few incantations and conjured up a handful of absolutely nothing.

"There’s nothing left," the lumber mill owner said. "I’ve pulled several rabbits out of the hat to keep it running this long. But there’s no more tricks up the sleeve. It’s over."

After 25 years in the business, Eureka’s Owens and Hurst Lumber Co. is silencing the saws.

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2005/01/28/news/top/news01.txt