Economist predicts more mill closures in Montana next year

Montana’s timber industry can expect to lose one or two more mills in the coming year if timber harvests, specifically those on national forest lands, don’t increase, a prominent wood products economist predicts.

Charles Keegan, economist with the University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research, said the industry could be sustained if harvests increased by 15 percent, but a decline of 15 percent would likely mean at least four more mills closing.

Keegan’s projections are part of a report, “Sustaining Montana’s Forest Products Industry,” which he prepared at the request of the state’s congressional delegation.
The number of Montana facilities that process at least 10 million board feet of timber annually has shrunk from 38 in 1976 to 19 in 2004. The decline continued this year with the closure of the Owens & Hurst mill in Eureka and Stimson lumber’s shutdown of a plywood processing line in Bonner.

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2005/08/29/breaker/doc43137870979ed817551175.txt