Intermountain Resources, the state’s biggest lumber mill, is closing indefinitely in Montrose. The loss of 80 direct jobs and 40 contractor positions will ripple through the community and complicate forest management efforts.

The high-country air around Montrose still carries the scent of fresh-cut Engelmann spruce, but that smell will soon be gone. Intermountain Resources, Colorado’s largest lumber mill, announced it will cease operations indefinitely, ending a stretch of work that began when the mill restarted in 2022 after a previous shutdown.

The facility, owned by California-based Mandall Lumber, processes timber harvested from the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests. Roughly 80 employees will lose their jobs, and another 40 contractors who hauled logs or provided support services will be affected as well. Management pointed to a long slump in lumber prices and the steep cost of moving timber out of the mountains as the deciding factors.

Tom Mandall, owner of the parent company, called the decision difficult but unavoidable. “The market conditions simply don’t support the continued operation of the mill at this time,” he said. County Commissioner Bill Fales sees wider consequences. “This is a huge hit to our community and to the health of our forests,” he noted. “Without a mill to take the timber, it makes managing the forest much more difficult.”

For years the mill served as the steady buyer for small logging outfits working the steep slopes above town. Without that buyer, crews will have fewer places to sell what they cut, and the Forest Service will have one less partner when it tries to thin overgrown stands that feed wildfire. Montrose has weathered earlier setbacks—the temporary closure in 2021 was followed by a cautious restart—but this time the numbers do not add up.

City and county leaders are already looking at whether any portion of the operation could be preserved or retooled, though no concrete plan has emerged. In the meantime, the log decks beside the mill sit quiet, and the future of the surrounding woods feels a little less certain.
     

Source: pueblocounty.news