COLUMBIA FALLS, MONTANA - Two northwest Montana lumber companies are restarting their Columbia Falls operations following shutdowns attributed to the worst lumber markets in more than 30 years. The announcements were welcome news in the Flathead Valley, where unemployment hovers just above 11 percent.

Plum Creek Lumber Company announced March 16 that would restart its Columbia Falls sawmill immediately because of in unexpected up-tick in the pine market. The decision will send 140 back to work following a shutdown that began January 8.

“We’re seeing a little improvement in 12-inch-wide] board prices,” Tom Ray, vice president of Plum Creek’s Montana operations, told Nancy Kimball, a Daily Interlake reporter.

Ray credited modest improvement in the home repair and remodeling market for the improvement in the price of pine, which has increased about $60 per thousand board feet since January.

“At this point, it is better to run the plan than to keep it down,” Ray explained, noting that maintaining a mill during its shutdown is itself a costly proposition. “Obviously, we’re happy to be bringing people back to work.”

Although the restart decision was welcome news in northwest Montana, Ray cautioned that it would be evaluated month-month. Plum Creek’s nearby Evergreen won’t be restarted until late April, at the earliest and its Pablo, Montana pine mill is running a single shift. Earlier this year, the company announced the permanent closure of its Ksanka mill at Fortine, north of Whitefish, Montana. The mill, which once belonged to Jim Hurst, another well known northwest Montana lumberman, had run for more than 50 years.

Meanwhile, Stoltze Lumber Company said on March 19 that it would restart its’ sawmill for a completely different reason: it fears its winter inventory of logs will begin to deteriorate as the weather warms.

“It’s more due to trying to optimize the value of our logs, plant manager, Chuck Roady, told the Interlake’s Kimball. “As temperatures rise above freezing, frozen and snow-covered logs start to check as everything melts and they get exposed to air”

The problem with log deterioration is particularly acute in fire-killed timber, which accounts for about 90 per cent of the wood in Stoltze log decks. The mill, which is Montana’s oldest, has a three-month inventory in its decks, which puts the company on a collision course with thawing spring weather, which will make it impossible for logging to continue until forest roads dry and firm up.

Roady’s decision to restart the Stoltze mill comes seven weeks to the day after the company shut down its Columbia Falls operation. About 70 furloughed workers will return to work over the next week or two.