lumber

Pyramid Mountain Lumber processed its last units of lumber this week and is now into the final stages of ending operations, marking an end of the mill.

The funding is coming from a U.S. Department of Labor grant that helps workers who have lost their jobs to find new work.

Pyramid Mountain Lumber owner and General Manager Todd Johnson said the mill has been winding down its operations in steps over the past few months.

Nearly four months after Pyramid Mountain Lumber announced its plans to end operations and close its gates, Missoula Economic Partnership remains hopeful that a buyer will emerge before the mill is dismantled.

Missoula legislators write, "The Land Board, working with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, should fully evaluate different strategies for maintaining the existing mill infrastructure in Montana."

With less than three weeks to find a buyer for a Seeley lumber mill, some Missoula legislators are asking the state land board for some leadership in keeping the mill open.

Chris Servheen writes, "The mill has been an important local destination for logs harvested in Western Montana in thinning projects to reduce fire danger in the wildfire-urban interface."

According to the company website, the Missoula plant has 175 employees and has been in business since 1969.

One of Missoula County's last remaining lumber mills on Thursday evening announced its plans to close, ending a run that began in 1949.