Forestry leader ends long career

By JIM MANN/Daily Inter Lake

For 43 years, Ron Buentemeier has been a one-man force in Northwest Montana forest management issues.

At the end of this year, he is retiring as vice president and general manager at F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Co. But "retiring" may not be the most accurate description for the future of Buentemeier, who is famously active beyond his work at Stoltze.

He serves on the Flathead Conservation District Board and the Flathead National Forest's Resource Advisory Committee. He is active in Montanans for Multiple Use, the Society of American Foresters and a tree farming group. He has participated in many collaborative forestry groups.

"I'll continue to be active in some of those things," he said Friday. "But hopefully not as active. I am going to learn to say no a little more."

Buentemeier, 66, started at Stoltze in 1964 as a forester, managing timber sales and logging operations.

It was a much simpler time, when a Forest Service timber sale was summarized on a couple of pieces of paper - compared to today, when big sales are backed by voluminous environmental impact statements.

"The job became more complicated as we went along because of rules and regulations," said Buentemeier, who is an ardent advocate of actively managing forests to maintain their vibrancy and health.

"Ron's dedication to Stoltze and practicing good forestry ethics have exemplified his entire career and has led to the respect by his peers throughout the timber industry in Montana, the Pacific Northwest and the nation," said Stoltze President Greg Johnson. "He has been the recipient of numerous local, regional and national awards from the Society of American Foresters, the American Tree Farm Association, Montana Wood Products Association and the Intermountain Logging Conference, among others."

"It's really been a pleasure to work for the Stoltze family because they wanted to manage their timberlands on a sustained-yield basis," Buentemeier said. "They've been very supportive of most everything I thought was a good idea."

For years, Buentemeier has been frustrated by a dramatic decline in the timber harvest from national forest lands in Northwest Montana. That decline has been and will continue to be the biggest challenge for Stoltze, the only mill in Montana that produces stress-graded lumber used in trusses and decking.

The Stoltze ownership has invested in a state-of-the-art operation and is willing to continue investing, "but our big problem is the lack of a stable log supply," said Buentemeier.

Buentemeier is troubled that there isn't greater public support for forest management policies that would provide a more certain future for a local company that generated a $7.5 million payroll and $29 million in overall operating expenditures last year.

He notes that the Flathead National Forest's 1985 forest plan made only 27 percent of the 2.3 million-acre national forest available for timber harvesting, and historically there has been timber harvested on only 240,000 acres of the forest.

Stoltze owns about 36,000 acres of its own timberlands that provide 25 percent of the logs processed annually by the Columbia Falls-area sawmill.

Buentemeier points to the 125,000 acres burned by this summer's Chippy Creek and Brush Creek fires.

"If we just removed one load of logs from each of those acres, it would run this sawmill for 18 years," he said.

That will never happen, he laments, but Buentemeier is hopeful that Stoltze can maintain its operations in the Flathead Valley, where it has been in business since 1918.

Buentemeier plans to tend to his own tree farm and pursue other interests.

"I love to work on old cars and trucks, so I want to do more of that," he said.

Buentemeier will be succeeded by Chucky Rhoady, who has been the lands and resource manager at Stoltze since 2003. Paul McKenzie, currently a forester at Stoltze, will assume the duties of lands and resource manager.

Buentemeier will retire at the end of year. A reception is being planned for early January to celebrate his career at Stoltze.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com