Pyramid Mountain Lumber announces closure

GRIFFEN SMITH

Pyramid Mountain Lumber announced Thursday that it will close its doors for good this year, citing unprecedented rising costs. 

Seeley Lake’s largest employer and one of the oldest family-owned lumber mills in western Montana, Pyramid Mountain has operated its sawmill 50 miles northeast of Missoula, since 1949. In late February, its board of directors unanimously decided to close the mill permanently and auction its equipment.

The closure will affect roughly 100 employees.

Seeley Lake once had more than a dozen lumber mills at the height of its industry. But for the last few decades Pyramid has stood as the final mill of the area. The company is also the last running mill in Missoula County.

“In the last 100 years, only one other mill in Montana hasn’t shut its doors or changed ownership,” the statement said. “It is crushing knowing that those achievements will soon no longer be a reality for Pyramid Mountain Lumber.”

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The statement said labor shortages, lack of housing, unprecedented rising costs, plummeting lumber prices, and the cost of living in western Montana have crippled Pyramid’s ability to operate. 

The company will start a strategic wind-down over the coming months. It

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