Montana Forest Products Story

The Decline of Montana’s Forest Products Industry…
The Sustainable Path To Recovery

Today we would like to highlight this story coming from former MACD President and Current Lake CD Supervisor Jim Simpson.

Between 1990 and 2025, Montana’s forest Products has declined to the point of near extinction. In 1990, there were about 45 major log processing mills in Montana. Today, we have six operating mills remaining. We suspect that our Montana federal and state politicians are not fully aware of the magnitude of the decline.

I have teamed up with another retired forester with the hope that we can tell the forest products story. Our intent is to list all of the mills that have disappeared since 1990 along with the year and the location. We will also list the major events and legislation that lead to the decline. Finally, we will list congressional and Montana legislative actions that need to be taken in order to gradual and sustainably reverse the decline.

Our goal is to raise awareness, promote legislative change and of course revitalize Montana Forest Products Industry.

We aim to raise $20,000 to pay for research, publication and distribution of an eight to 10 page pamphlet. Please include a request for a donation on your next meeting’s agenda. A donation of $100 would be helpful, but if you feel that you can afford more, we would appreciate it. The link above further explains the initiative.

If you have questions, reach out to Jim Simpson at 406.871.6011 or Jim.g.simpson@gmail.com.