Summit County Citizens Voice

Sen. Mark Udall is asking the Forest Service to change some existing timber contracts to give relief to Colorado's struggling sawmills.

Democratic senator says continued operation of wood processing plants critical in ongoing efforts to clear beetle-killed trees from forests around the state

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Colorado’s struggling timber mills are getting some high-level help from Sen. Mark Udall, who is urging the U.S. Forest Service to modify several timber contracts that are putting financial pressure on the mills.

Udall wants the the Forest Service to rework the timber sale contracts with the sawmills. In addition to employing hundreds of Coloradans, the mills play a crucial role in the fight against the bark beetle and wildfire by providing the infrastructure to help clear 4 million acres of hazardous fuels and beetle-killed trees and processing them into wood products, the senator said in a press release.

The downturn in the housing market and the state’s forest-management economy led to financial trouble for the mills: Intermountain Resources (Montrose), Mountain Valley Lumber (Saguache) and Delta Timber (Delta). Basically, they are losing money on older timber sales, with rates that are higher than what it costs to remove the dead trees from the forest. (more…)

Filed under: agriculture, business, climate and weather, Colorado, economy, Environment, forest fires, Forest health, forests, global warming, pine beetles, pine beetles and wildfires, Summit County news, US Forest Service, White River National Forest | Tagged: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Colorado, Colorado sawmills, Delta Timber, Forest health, Forest Service chief Tom Tidwell, Intermountain Resources, Mark Udall, Mountain pine beetle, Mountain Valley Lumber, pine beetles, Sen. Mark Udall, Summit County News, United States, United States Forest Service, US Forest Service, USDA | Leave a Comment »