Professor Warns Of Declining Lumber Mills In Montana’s Forests

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - On Thursday’s KGVO Talk Back show, UM Forestry Professor Dr. Peter Kolb was asked about what was termed ‘the Good Neighbor Authority’ with the U.S. Forest Service and how many steps any timber sale must go through.

“You're referring to the Good Neighbor Authority,” began Dr. Kolb. “This was developed about 10 years ago, where, because the Forest Service was lacking personnel to get projects off the ground, the state was doing all the groundwork for it. However, the project still had to go through all of the federal regulatory processes, mainly NEPA, (National Environmental Policy Act), the Endangered Species Act review and all of those types of things.”

Dr. Peter Kolb Discussed Future Timber Harvesting in Western Montana

Dr. Kolb said there are very specific conditions under which forestland can be harvested.

“It's a very site specific base,” he said. “So they had the Montana forest plan, which identified high risk areas, and that's kind of where they're focusing, especially when there is a DNRC (Department of Natural Resources and Conservation) presence there. So we can see more projects being developed by the DNRC. But again, they still have to go under all of the federal review processes, which still remain somewhat frustrating.”

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He said Montana's Forest Products Infrastructure is Shrinking

Dr. Kolb said Montana’s remaining forest products infrastructure has been steadily shrinking.

“The idea is that the value added, that that timber coming off federal land, is going to help keep our mill infrastructure functional, because if we lose any more mills, you know, our wood products industry is basically kaput,” he said. “We don't have the infrastructure to be able to handle the volume of what actually needs to be done. There's only five big (lumber mills) and I think 30 years ago there were 46.”

What it Would Take to Bring More Lumber Mills to Montana

Dr. Kolb described the factors and conditions necessary to bring more lumber mills to western Montana.

“For a new mill to be built; and you know there are investors looking at that, because we have a tremendous timber resource in Montana, they need to have a 20 year guarantee of a sustainable supply of logs,” he said. “And so we're talking 40 truckloads of logs a day to keep a competitive mill, functional right now.”