Libby needs stable supply of timber from the forest

I was impressed to read that the new Regional Forester, Leanne Marten, took time to leave her office in Missoula and visit with some of the people she serves in Libby. Her decisions and policies are of vital importance to all of us living in the heart of the Kootenai National Forest.

It was also enlightening to read one of our county commissioners has finally figured out how bad we got screwed by Champion International. It doesn’t seem that long ago when our community was so bitterly divided, with plenty of finger pointing all around, over logging, wilderness, environmentalists, etc., when the writing was so clearly on the wall as to where the local timber economy was headed.

One comment by KNF Supervisor Chris Savage caused me to raise an eyebrow though, and left me a bit puzzled; “The demand is there for specialty wood products, so how do we work together to get incentives for small businesses to come here?”

I own a small log yard and forestry business, and getting wood has been a chronic problem. I have a sawmill, sell firewood commercially (and legitimately) and occasionally deal in buying and selling raw logs. I had a U.S. Forest Service blow-down salvage sale last winter (the first one of any consequence in years) where I was able to put 40,000 board feet in the yard (only about one good day’s output for a modern mechanical side), that really helped out the sawmill this spring. My firewood business is floundering day to day as I currently have more orders than wood, with virtually nothing in the pipeline. I know I am not alone, as I deal with a few other small mills, craftsmen and log home builders, who are also constantly scrambling for quality logs and too often are coming up short, while surrounded by over two million acres of National Forest.

I could go on and on with stories about the struggles of doing business in Libby, and my frustration with small sales, or lack there of. The bottom line is we don’t need incentives for new businesses to come here. What we need is less lip flapping and a timber program that actually works for the community and support for the businesses that are already here.

— Tom Horelick,

Libby