Philomath sawmill to close, lay off 100, in third Oregon mill shutdown of 2024

A Canadian timber company will shut down operations at its Philomath sawmill, eliminating about 100 jobs in the small community west of Corvallis, Interfor Corp. said Friday.

It will become the third Oregon sawmill to close since the start of the new year. Hampton Lumber closed its Banks mill and laid off 58 in January while Rosboro Co. temporarily closed its Springfield mill and laid off 25 in early February.

The Philomath mill produced a mix of kiln-dried and green Hemlock and Douglas-fir lumber with an annual capacity of 220 million board feet.

Interfor bought the Philomath mill in 2021 from Georgia-Pacific, saying at the time that the purchase would “support accelerated growth,” according to the Philomath News.

“This was a difficult decision to make, but is necessary in light of the evolving operating and market environment,” said Bruce Luxmoore, executive vice-president of Interfor’s U.S. operations. “We recognize the impact this decision will have on our employees, who have contributed so much to the business over the years.”

Interfor, based in British Columbia, said production would be slowed immediately followed by a wind-down of operations completed by the end of March. The company will continue operations at its mills in Molalla, Longview, Wash. and Port Angeles, Wash.

High log costs, weak lumber market conditions drive closures

Interfor bought the Philomath mill in 2021 from Georgia-Pacific.

Interfor cited “persistent high log costs in the region” and “weak lumber market conditions” for the closure.

Those were similar reasons given by Hampton Lumber and Rosboro in making their decisions to close.

Interfor didn’t immediately respond to questions about its decision-making process.

Hampton and Rosboro blamed two Oregon policies — the Habitat Conservation Plan and Private Forests Timber Accord — as a reason for the high price of logs this year and into the future.

Less logs cut from nearby forests drives up the price to the point that it’s not sustainable to keep operations going, Rosboro senior vice president Brian Wells told the Statesman Journal earlier this month.

The HCP seeks to protect wildlife habitat on Oregon state forests but would lead to a decline in timber harvest. The forest accord was an agreement between environmental groups and timber companies meant to provide regulatory certainty about what could and couldn’t be logged and protect habitat.

Nick Smith, spokesman for the American Forest Resource Council, a timber trade group, said he was worried that “more pain is coming.”

“The common thread between these mill closures is high log costs driven by low log supply thanks to policy decisions at the state level,” Smith said.

“Layoffs in rural Oregon have devastating effects to these communities,” he added.

Sawmill closures due to ‘bad business decisions’

Interfor said production of its Philomath sawmill would be slowed immediately, followed by a wind-down of operations that will be completed by the end of March.

Casey Kulla, state forests policy coordinator at the environmental group Oregon Wild, said the decisions to close the mills were made “to maximize profits in response to bad business decisions over the last decade and changed economic conditions.”

“Communities, families, and individuals are absolutely harmed by the loss of jobs at these mills … but in the end, the mills are making a private financial decision to improve their bottom line,” Kulla added.

He said the timber industry had generally celebrated the passage of the private forest accords, and for them to now turn on it was puzzling.

“A mill owner blaming modest and long overdue protections for clean drinking water and salmon doesn’t add up,” he said.

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. To support his work, subscribe to the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at [email protected] or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Philomath sawmill to close, lay off 100, in third Oregon mill shutdown of 2024