On Sunday, November 8, Weyerhaeuser announced intentions to purchase Plumb Creek Timber, a company well known in Montana where it owns around 700,000 acres of timber land.
As Montana Forest Products Week approaches (October 18 -24), potential Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Greg Gianforte is putting some pressure on Governor Steve Bullock to do something to help the timber industry.
Experts from a variety of fields admit that Montana’s timber industry is in dire straits as a trade agreement with Canada fades this month and a surplus of cheap lumber causes prices to plummet.
What is the biggest factor hindering Western Montana’s timber industry: a lack of timber supply or a lack of public demand for wood products? Director of Timber Industry Research at the Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research Todd Morgan says the problem at this point in time is supply.
On Monday, October 21, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of an environmental group, and agreed to issue a two-week injunction temporarily halting a timber sale harvest in Kootenai National Forest.