The Montana Wood Products Association

The Montana Wood Products Association was founded in 1972 and serves as a major voice for the wood products industry while actively dealing with timber, logging, and wood products manufacturing issues in the public arena, and with state and federal government.

Mission Statement: To promote healthy forests and healthy communities through management of Montana’s forests.

The Latest Headline News Links

.What's in a bill? (Bozeman Daily Chronicle, 7/29/2010)
…become increasingly heated because of 39 words user groups can't seem to agree on: "The wilderness study areas designated by this act shall, until Congress determines otherwise, be administered by the Department of Agriculture…

Molloy orders review of USFS use of fire retardants (Missoulian, 7/29/2010)
…In a 79-page decision filed Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy ruled the Forest Service violated the federal National Environmental Policy Act when it determined the chemical slurry has only insignificant environmental effects…

Storm spawns 10 new fires (Ravalli Republic, 7/29/2010)
…late afternoon thunderstorm that swept across the Bitterroot Valley Wednesday afternoon has sparked at least ten new fires…

Suits not always "public interest" (Ravalli Republic Guest Opinion, 7/29/2010)
…I have not asked anyone to represent me in stopping projects meant to improve the quality of life in Montana, provide jobs, and manage forests…

USFWS to expand conservation easements in the Blackfoot Valley (Independent Record, 7/29/2010)
…The easements are purchased with federal Land and Water Conservation Fund money, which is derived primarily from oil and gas leases on the outer continental shelf, motorboat fuel tax revenues, and the sale of surplus federal property…

Environmentalists, loggers push new wilderness deal in Northest Washington (Seattle Times, 7/28/2010)
…the Selkirk Mountains offers a corridor linking Washington's elusive lynx with other carnivores in Montana…

Fire in Bob Marshall spreads to about 2000 acres (Missoulian, 7/28/2010)
…The blaze is on the Spotted Bear Ranger District of the Flathead National Forest, about 18 miles southeast of Condon…

Showdown to lose trees killed by pine beetles (Great Falls Tribune, 7/28/2010)
…The Forest Service proposes to remove trees in areas within 1 1/2 tree lengths of skiing infrastructure, rope lines, parking areas, ski trails and other spots where people congregate…

Western climate initiative offers cap and trade ((AP) Flathead Beacon, 7/28/2010)
…The system, which gives financial incentives to reduce carbon emissions, would start with power plants, then extend to large industrial producers and transportation…

Fast and furious fire season predicted (Independent Record, 7/27/2010)
…expect “a fast and furious but short” fire season in August, fueled by the tall grass that grew during the state’s wet and cool spring and is now drying, a federal official told Gov. Brian Schweitzer…

Local trees for local energy closer to reality (Independent Record, 7/27/2010)
…included an $800,000 request by local government officials to build a pilot project in Helena to turn local dead trees and wood waste into energy…

Vancouver Island sawmill to restart after two-year shutdown (Business Today, 7/27/2010)
…Western Forest Products plans to restart the Ladysmith sawmill this September…

Forest ablaze in Sapphire range (Ravalli Republic, 7/26/2010)
…The first high-profile fire of the season erupted Sunday on the Bitterroot National Forest east of Corvallis, forcing a helicopter evacuation of recreationists…

Forest plan works to marry wildlife concerns, timbering ((AP) Great Falls Tribune, 7/26/2010)
…U.S. Forest Service officials have approved a plan for the Boise National Forest intended to restore and maintain habitat for wildlife while still allowing timber harvest…

Lack of funding kills climate project (Associated Press, 7/26/2010)
…Money troubles have stalled indefinitely a proposal to capture carbon dioxide emissions from a Canadian coal plant and store the gas underground in Montana…

Evidence of logging past (Spokesman Review, 7/25/2010)
…the remains and tangible evidence of early day logging is hard to find…

New biomass projects pencil out only on a small scale (Oregon Public Radio, 7/25/2010)
…When it comes to alternative energy, many see the Northwest as the Saudi Arabia of woody biomass. The potential is huge. Trees are everywhere here…

Plan to buy land for $15m raises eyebrows (Indpendent Record, 7/25/2010)
…The pace of the project, as well as its funding, also was a topic of discussion during a recent public hearing…

Biomass project gets federal funds (Independent Record, 7/24/2010)
…The legislation would provide $800,000 for the Tri-County Biomass Pilot Project, which would use woody biomass produced in Lewis and Clark, Jefferson and Broadwater counties…

Conservations file brief supporting roadless rule (Associated Press, 7/24/2010)
…Trout Unlimited and the Idaho Conservation League joined forces Friday to file a friend-of-the-court brief in a federal lawsuit seeking to block the Idaho roadless rule…

Towering Northwest forests standout in global map (Oregonian, 7/24/2010)
…Nowhere on Earth can you find forests as tall and vast as those in the Pacific Northwest. They make Canada's great boreal forests look like shrubs. Amazon rain forest trees are mere halflings by comparison…

EPA faces lawsuit for failure to control air polution from pulp mills (Center for Biological Diversity, 7/23/2010)
…Center for Biological Diversity today notified the Environmental Protection Agency of their intent to sue the agency for failing to review and update Clean Air Act rules for certain polluting pulp mills…

Fungus threatens Rocky Mountains' ancient bristlecone pines (Denver Post, 7/23/2010)
…Most promising may be collecting seeds from the most resilient limbers and bristlecones and using those to seed new, fungus-tolerant forests, researchers say…

Lightening sparks 9 small fires in the Bitterroot (Ravalli Republic, 7/23/2010)
…the storm sparked nine blazes - each about a tenth of an acre in size - across areas of the Sula and West Fork ranger districts…

Loggers, environmentalists team up on Boise National Forest's timber plan (Idaho Statesman, 7/22/2010)
…environmentalists agree with timber industry leaders that it is necessary to cut smaller trees that grew up when forest fire was kept out of the area. That, coupled with a managed burning program, will eliminate the kind of fuel that creates catastrophic fire…

Logging provision at risk in Tester bill (Montana Standard Op/Ed, 7/22/2010)
…The enviros have already lined up their attorneys to go before “their” Judge Donald Molloy of Missoula who’ll stop any timber cutting…

Montanan, Idahoan "tied to the land" testify in D.C. (New West, 7/22/2010)
…Congress turned to an unlikely group to explain how public lands management and policy are affecting rural jobs and communities…

New Flathead forest leader oversees busy summer (Daily Inter Lake, 7/22/2010)
…In his 26 years with the Forest Service, Weber has worked in ecology, silviculture and firefighting, as well as being involved in timber, recreation, engineering, fisheries and wildlife programs…

Rehberg offers to help find new business for Frenchtown mill site (Clark Fork Chronicle, 7/22/2010)
…Rehberg has offered to go to bat for Frenchtown to make sure the Smurfit-Stone site will become home to another mill or business …

Submarine salvage (Missoula Independent, 7/22/2010)
…Considering the scope of the project, there's been surprisingly little feedback from the Flathead community…

Trial by fire: Remembering the great fire of 1910 (Flathead Beacon, 7/22/2010)
…A vast Western landscape was left charred, prompting a new era in U.S. Forest Service fire policy and propelling the conservation movement into the national spotlight…

Yellowstone-area whitebark toll 1 million acres (Associated Press, 7/22/2010)
…The death of the forests has wide-ranging implications…