Viewpoint: Reflecting on Pyramid’s lumber legacy in Montana

Chris Servheen

The Montana Wildlife Federation is saddened by the closure of the Pyramid Mountain
Lumber mill in Seeley Lake and the loss of close to 100 jobs in the area.

For over 70 years, Pyramid Mountain Lumber has been an important contributing member of the community of Seeley Lake. The owners and employees of the mill supported conservation efforts such as expanding protections in areas adjacent to the Bob Marshall Wilderness and the Mission Mountains Wilderness. The family-owned mill allowed community members to live locally, raise their children, and enjoy this beautiful rural region of Montana.

The mill has also been an important local destination for logs harvested in Western
Montana in thinning projects to reduce fire danger in the wildfire-urban interface. These
thinning projects will become increasingly important as climate change causes less snow, drier conditions, and a longer fire season.

With the loss of the Pyramid Mountain mill, those thinning projects will become more costly and more difficult to implement due to the greater distances that harvested logs will need to be transported.

We thank the family owners and the workers at the Pyramid Lumber for their commitment to community and conservation and for their decades of support for the Seeley Lake community and Western Montana.

Chris Servheen, President and Board Chair of the Montana Wildlife Federation