Pyramid Lumber in Seeley Lake, MT Closing

[The Hedgehog]

I had 4-5 meals in Trixies this year - enjoyed that place

 

[BuzzH]

I had 4-5 meals in Trixies this year - enjoyed that place

I hope that place never shuts down.

 

[Deleted member 48080]

My Grandfather's hunting partner Sam was killed by a Grizzly right above Ovando. When my Grandpa found him the next spring, the barrel of his rifle was bent. The legend grew that Sam bent the barrel hitting the bear.

The rifle was hanging above the bar at Trixi's for years. Hopefully it ended up with one of Sam's relatives.

It's terrible news about Pyramid, but unfortunately it was probably inevitable. That town has a lot going for it, and will be fine. A lot of blue collar families will be forced out though, which is a shame, and becoming way too common in this part of Montana.

 

[BAKPAKR]

I grew up in North Idaho during a time when everyone had family or friends who worked at one of the many local mills. I always thought it was neat seeing logs floated to the mills on the lake and river. It was sad to see those mills disappear, one by one.

 

[Salmonchaser]

This started in Oregon about 50 years ago, Governor Tom Mcall actually ran an add, come visit but please leave. That backfired. The explosion of people flooding Oregon is why I started hunting Montana over 30 years ago. Made it almost every year.
What has happened in Oregon pales to what is going on in Montana. Good luck.

 

[mtmuley]

Sad to see. I remember watching the lumber industry fall apart in the Bitterroot. Darby made it through, hopefully Seely does also. mtmuley

 

[BackofBeyond]

I grew up in North Idaho during a time when everyone had family or friends who worked at one of the many local mills. I always thought it was neat seeing logs floated to the mills on the lake and river. It was sad to see those mills disappear, one by one.

Yup. Everybody's dad either worked in the woods or underground.

Now look a the chit hole Coeur d' Alene has turned into.

 

[JEL]

I read that. Agree completely, it sucks.

It hits home for me, also. When the Boise Cascade mill in our little town of 500+ people closed, the entire place went into a tailspin and it never recovered. I left five years after that event. The town now has about 180 people. You can buy a home for about the price of a new pickup. There's not even a place to eat. There are pretty much no jobs, so most folks still there are retired. Fond memories when I return, but it is only a shadow of its vibrant self when the mill was operating.

The social turmoil and disruption that comes with huge changes in these small towns that are reliant on one main employer is hard to explain. It permeates every corner of life and usually not for the positive.

I feel for the folks at Seeley. It's a neat little town.

I think a lot of us that grew up in small town America feel a little pain every time something like this happens. I grew up in an agriculture town of about 600 people. Graduated high school in 1980. The town had two service stations, a theater, bowling alley, grocery/hardware/sporting goods store and a drug store. A couple cafes and bars. CRP came in and people left. Sad to drive through that little town now. Decaying buildings and lots of residents just there for cheap housing.

 

[BigHornRam]

Sad to see the end of an era.

Sanders receives prestigious award

SEELEY LAKE - Pyramid Mountain Lumber Resource Manager Gordy Sanders received the 2022 William Schlich Memorial Award for his 46 years of outstanding work that influenced local, state and national forestry policy. Sanders is one of only 39 recipients of the award in 88 years. The first two...

www.seeleylake.com

 

[Nameless Range]

My Grandfather's hunting partner Sam was killed by a Grizzly right above Ovando. When my Grandpa found him the next spring, the barrel of his rifle was bent. The legend grew that Sam bent the barrel hitting the bear.

The rifle was hanging above the bar at Trixi's for years. Hopefully it ended up with one of Sam's relatives.

I remember chatting with you about this years back. My work has taken me near the area where it happened a couple times in the last year or two, and I thought about it often. I obviously never knew anyone involved, but knowing the story has enriched the experience of being in that neck of the woods.

From the Independent Record in 1959:

 

[TheTone]

.

Now look a the chit hole Coeur d' Alene has turned into.

I was just reading somewhere else what a great place CDA is to visit and live; can’t imagine what those people that love it now would think of it 25-40 years ago

 

[Flynarrow]

Looking at the regional picture, where are the western Montana logs going to go now and still be financially feasible? With no mills left in the Bitterroot, Missoula, Superior-St Regis or Seeley the transportation costs will make it financially unfeasible to log and haul and come out in the black. Sun Mtn (Deerlodge) and T Falls have the only sizeable remaining mills. And given the uncertainty of prices and supply no sane investor is going to spend millions to construct a new mill.

So what you say? Well, I am neither a tree hugger or a dyed-in-the wool logger, but someone who has been involved for a career trying to manage forests in western Montana. There is a valid place for reasonable logging and things like wildland urban interface and wildlife habitat are going to suffer substantially without an economically feasible way to log and process the wood.

 

[tjones]

Along with mills in Deer Lodge and T Falls there are also sizeable mills in Livingston (Sun Mtn.) and C Falls (Stoltze).

It's tough news for the folks of Seely for sure.

 

[Pagosa]

Unfortunate, They were a major supplier of pine tongue and groove interior siding. It will shorten up the supply considerably. Hunts and RBM are the two left family lumber mills in Region 1. I spoke to the manager at Pyramid several years ago and he said they couldn’t find help, who can afford to work for $20.00 per hour.

 

[TheTone]

Looking at the regional picture, where are the western Montana logs going to go now and still be financially feasible? With no mills left in the Bitterroot, Missoula, Superior-St Regis or Seeley the transportation costs will make it financially unfeasible to log and haul and come out in the black. Sun Mtn (Deerlodge) and T Falls have the only sizeable remaining mills. And given the uncertainty of prices and supply no sane investor is going to spend millions to construct a new mill.

So what you say? Well, I am neither a tree hugger or a dyed-in-the wool logger, but someone who has been involved for a career trying to manage forests in western Montana. There is a valid place for reasonable logging and things like wildland urban interface and wildlife habitat are going to suffer substantially without an economically feasible way to log and process the wood.

I’ve thought the same for many Idaho places that people think need to be logged; where do you take the logs and make any money? The front country around me, which is near the mills, has been absolutely hammered in the last decade and the only thing I see slowing it down is running out of trees to cut.

 

[Dan O]

Seeley will take a big hit concerning the employee's and families. As for the business's it will affect them also. The problem is for these folks to find another job. There is nothing in the area that can absorb the unemployed mill workers. So many will have to move to find employment but with the crazy housing costs in Montana who can afford to buy or rent a home. A good example is the Sheriffs Office has tried to place a new resident Deputy due to two having left the area. They cannot afford to live here! The cost of living here is not within reach to the average Montana worker. Folks Montana is not for Montanans anymore. The cost of living here is killing it for the average person and that is dam sad.

 

[Hem]

Loss of a critical business in a small town has a bad ripple effect.
The only medical clinic in Three Forks abruptly closed its doors yesterday. UrgentCare in Belgrade the closest option. Not a huge deal for most, but it's a bummer for the old folks. The loss of a community service where people are familiar with one another is another aspect I hate to see.

 

[David658]

We are among those that would love to retire to Montana. Seeley Lake occupies a large portion of fond memories for us from just a single two-week camping vacation. In looking at homes in Western Montana, we find that even as moderately well heeled retirees, it will be too expensive. Hard to imagine trying to live and work there on "normal" wages.

David
NM

 

[Nameless Range]

We are among those that would love to retire to Montana. Seeley Lake occupies a large portion of fond memories for us from just a single two-week camping vacation. In looking at homes in Western Montana, we find that even as moderately well heeled retirees, it will be too expensive. Hard to imagine trying to live and work there on "normal" wages.

David
NM

Seeley will take a big hit concerning the employee's and families. As for the business's it will affect them also. The problem is for these folks to find another job. There is nothing in the area that can absorb the unemployed mill workers. So many will have to move to find employment but with the crazy housing costs in Montana who can afford to buy or rent a home. A good example is the Sheriffs Office has tried to place a new resident Deputy due to two having left the area. They cannot afford to live here! The cost of living here is not within reach to the average Montana worker. Folks Montana is not for Montanans anymore. The cost of living here is killing it for the average person and that is dam sad.

I found it interesting that no where in that press release does Pyramid cite a lack of supply being associated with their closure. Instead they cite labor shortages, lack of housing, and the cost for workers to live in MT as chief problems. I increasingly see two "classes" of the working class in Montana - those who were blessed to have gotten into a home prior to 2020, and those who weren't.

 

[Big Fin]

When I read of these stories, all I can think about is the 2008 Congressional hearings when the rationale for bailing out some dumbass Wall Street risk takers was that some companies were "Too Big To Fail." And, thus Congress bailed them out. Yet, small businesses are supposed to sink or swim on their own, subject to a lot of economic conditions they have no control over.

And then the Beltway crowd wonders why the rural working person in small town America feels so ignored.

I'd much rather fund support for Pyramid and the many other small businesses where this story repeats weekly in small town America than to fund a bunch of smart ass Wall Streeters who get paid fortunes for taking risk and get bailed out by Uncle Sam when the bet goes sour.

Not that my rant that is 15 years old helps the folks in Seeley.