Fortunes made and lost in the timber industry

From the days of James Hill and Frederick Weyerhauser, much remains the same in the timber industry of the Pacific Northwest.

But in pockets across the region, it has changed immeasurably, said speakers at the Montana History Conference.

"Timberr: Conflict and Change in the Pacific Northwest," was the theme for a historic outline tracing the region's lumber industry since the turn of the 20th century.

William Robbins, a professor of history at Oregon State University, described how the Pacific Northwest's timber resources were monopolized by a handful of industrialists 100 years ago, and how large companies continue to own vast acreages across the region.

The Northwest was perfectly positioned for expansion-minded industrialists when Hill, the railroad king, completed the Great Northern Railroad in the late 1800s.

"Expansion was the key to survival" at the time for men like Weyerhauser, who had available capital and a desire to put it to work, Robbins said.

Once the Great Northern Railway was complete, Weyerhauser was ready to pounce - he purchased, at $6 an acre, 900,000 acres in Washington that had been granted to Hill by the federal government. Soon, mills were cropping up across the region as other companies followed suit.

Today, Plum Creek Timber Co. owns 1.6 million acres in the Pacific Northwest, becoming the largest private holder in Montana. Other companies also have huge holdings across the region, Robbins said.

"Who says we've moved beyond the age of monopoly capitalism?'

Jeff Gruber, a history teacher at Libby High School, gave a detailed account about the drastic change in fortunes for Libby, once held up as a model for a stable blue-collar working town.

Gruber described how the town's timber fortunes soared in the first half of the century behind the J. Neils Lumber Co., a well-managed business that was innovative in its products and forest management practices.

The company produced "Prest-o-Logs" for domestic fireplaces, along with Lincoln Logs, and parts for Fisher-Price toys. It produced standard dimension lumber, boxes and telephone poles, and it became one of the first to develop fingerjointed lumber. Eventually, a plywood plant was built.

The mill's ownership adopted a "sustained yield" forest management strategy that strayed from the standard practice of clear-cutting timber stands. The idea was to maintain a steady, reliable supply of timber over time rather than rapidly liquidating that supply.

That practice was continued after the the company was sold to the St. Regis Timber Co. But in 1984, Champion International assumed ownership.

"The 50-year harvest plan was scrapped in favor of rapid monetizing of its timber base," Gruber said. And that prompted more reliance on the Kootenai National Forest for timber. In 1991, Champion sold all of its Montana lands to Plum Creek Timber Co., and Stimson Lumber purchased the company's manufacturing facilities in Libby and Bonner.

In 2002, Stimson was faced with uncertain timber supplies and a poor market for plywood. The company closed the plywood plant at the end of the year, and today, the town of Libby has no major wood products facility.

Gruber said the changes have been "cruel" to Libby.

"People feel angry and betrayed for being monetized," he said.

Today, a "Lucky Logger" casino now sits where the old mill yard once was.

"There's nothing lucky about it," Gruber said.