Bebe
03-25-2009, 04:30 PM
Sierra Pacific Industries plans to close Camino sawmill
mglover@sacbee.com
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1726348.html
Published Wednesday, Mar. 25, 2009
A sawmill that has been a fixture in the El Dorado County community of Camino for 120 years may be down to its final months.
Citing a downturn in home construction and what it calls restrictive regulatory factors, Sierra Pacific Industries said it will close its Camino sawmill in June, resulting in a loss of 164 jobs.
Anderson-based SPI said it also will close its sawmill and a biomass-fueled electric power plant in Sonora in Tuolumne County, at a cost of 146 jobs.
SPI said the Camino plant will operate until about June 12, and the Sonora sawmill and power plant will run until sometime in mid-July.
El Dorado County Supervisor Jack Sweeney, whose district encompasses SPI's Camino facility, called the mill "a symbol of the economy in this county, a symbol of the heritage of this county."
Sweeney conceded that the outlook was bleak but promised "to talk with management" and make other efforts to try to preserve the mill.
Laurel Brent-Bumb, chief executive officer of the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce, said the loss of 164 jobs in Camino, with a population of slightly more than 5,000, is "pretty huge."
SPI cited a laundry list of market and regulatory-legal concerns that it said led to its decision to close the Camino and Sonora facilities:
• The drop in new home construction has reduced both demand for lumber and the price for finished products.
• The fall-off in national forest and private timber for sale has made supplies uncertain.
• The complexity and cost of the Timber Harvest Plan review process has slowed plan approval, and time limits on the plans have made it difficult to adjust to market conditions.
The combined factors, "leave us no choice but to close the plants," said SPI spokesman Mark Pawlicki.
Ryan Land, area manager for SPI, said "it is ironic that California is still importing most of its lumber from places with lower environmental standards. We hope the time will come when more of the lumber needed in this state is produced in California's mills."
Federal and state forestry and environmental officials did not return calls seeking comment. They have consistently maintained that their regulations are designed to preserve the state's forest lands for the public, wildlife and other enterprises besides timber-harvesting.
Pawlicki said workers in Camino and Sonora were informed of the planned closures on Monday.
"SPI will consider affected employees for other potential opportunities within the company for those who are interested in relocating or transferring," Pawlicki said.
Pawlicki said SPI "would keep the equipment in the mills in case things change," but he added, "that looks doubtful at this point."
The Camino sawmill has been a fixture of the small community's economy for 120 years, riding out numerous boom-and-bust cycles.
Until now, the mill's darkest days were in 1994, when then-owner, Michigan-California Lumber Co., said it could no longer harvest enough timber from national forests – primarily the nearby Eldorado – to keep the mill running.
The company blamed the expected loss of 280 jobs and a $12 million payroll on environmentalists who pushed federal authorities to protect the California spotted owl on surrounding forest lands.
In early 1994, Camino merchants and residents heavily dependent on the mill and its jobs expressed their anger at community meetings and other gatherings.
In May of that year, the U.S. Justice Department approved the sale of the mill to SPI, which kept it open and retained all the workers. Officials had previously denied the sale on fears that SPI would have a monopoly in the region but reversed themselves based on a comparative lack of lumber sales in the area.
The closings in Camino and Sonora are the latest in the string of setbacks announced by SPI in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, SPI announced that it will close its small-log mill in Quincy on May 4, eliminating about 150 jobs in the Plumas County town. Then, on March 17, SPI said it will reduce production at its Arcata plant in Humboldt County, putting 48 employees out of work. Those layoffs took effect Monday.
There goes another 280 local jobs. Maybe the FS can hire these people with their new 300 million stimulus dollars?
March 24, 2009
Officials try to avert Tahoe beetle infestation
http://www.rgj.com/article/20090324/NEWS18/90324044/1321/NEWS
By Jeff DeLong
jdelong@rgj.com
Foresters have issued a “call to action” to prevent further spread of a major bark beetle epidemic, with targeted land including the Lake Tahoe area and other parts of the Sierra.
About 2.4 million acres of “high priority” at risk of being overrun by beetles have been identified for potential treatment by the Council of Western State Foresters. Much of the land is in the Sierra and near communities where widespread tree mortality could produce extreme fire danger.
“The Tahoe Basin is a perfect spot” to try and get ahead of a beetle infestation that threatens about 22 million acres of forest across the West,” said Pete Anderson, Nevada’s state forester and chairman of the forestry council.
The estimated cost of treating the 2.4 million acres is at least $300 million over five years, Anderson said.
Vast swaths of timber in places Colorado and Montana have been invaded by beetles, with millions of acres affected.
Recent drought, which makes trees more susceptible to beetle attack, has worsened the situation and put the Sierra at risk.
Experts say an opportunity exists to defend forests in the Sierra, other parts of Northern California, Washington and Oregon, Anderson said.
“We’re looking at areas where we think we can cut them off,” Anderson said. “We’re trying to target where we can do the most good.”
Thinning overgrown forests is the most effective way to avoid beetle infestation “so you don’t have a host,” Anderson said.
Spraying chemicals also can be effective in the early stages of infestation, he said.
Signs of local attacks by mountain pine beetles emerged last year in pockets of timber near Mount Rose and elsewhere along the Carson Range, including near Heavenly Mountain Resort near South Lake Tahoe and in the Little Valley area between Reno and Carson City.
In the wake of two drier-than-normal winters, the potential of a third increases the chance beetles will proliferate across the region, said Gail Durham, forest health specialist for NDF.
A healthy tree can easily fend off attacks by a few beetles by secreting resin and essentially booting the bugs out of its bark. But when trees are unhealthy in overcrowded stands, particularly when stressed by drought, their defense mechanisms are weakened.
Beetles attack successfully and while doing so, secrete perfume-like pheromones that attract hordes of invaders. The insects kill trees by chewing through bark and introducing harmful fungi, interfering with movement of water and nutrients.
The scope of the West’s current infestation is so great that foresters must target specific areas for treatment, Anderson said.
“We cannot, and should not try, to treat all the acres affected,” Anderson said. “That is why the assessment lays out a plan for prioritization, looking at all the factors at risk.”
As a “national priority,” Lake Tahoe may be in a strong position to secure some of the $300 million needed to prevent infestation and reduce resulting fire danger, Anderson said. About $75 million has already been spent treating about 500,000 acres of western forests.
“The problem is way larger than we have funding for,” he said. “There’s way more bugs than money.”
During a lengthy drought from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, bark beetles posed serious problems in the Sierra. About 30 percent of the pines and firs in the Lake Tahoe Basin alone were killed.
mglover@sacbee.com
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1726348.html
Published Wednesday, Mar. 25, 2009
A sawmill that has been a fixture in the El Dorado County community of Camino for 120 years may be down to its final months.
Citing a downturn in home construction and what it calls restrictive regulatory factors, Sierra Pacific Industries said it will close its Camino sawmill in June, resulting in a loss of 164 jobs.
Anderson-based SPI said it also will close its sawmill and a biomass-fueled electric power plant in Sonora in Tuolumne County, at a cost of 146 jobs.
SPI said the Camino plant will operate until about June 12, and the Sonora sawmill and power plant will run until sometime in mid-July.
El Dorado County Supervisor Jack Sweeney, whose district encompasses SPI's Camino facility, called the mill "a symbol of the economy in this county, a symbol of the heritage of this county."
Sweeney conceded that the outlook was bleak but promised "to talk with management" and make other efforts to try to preserve the mill.
Laurel Brent-Bumb, chief executive officer of the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce, said the loss of 164 jobs in Camino, with a population of slightly more than 5,000, is "pretty huge."
SPI cited a laundry list of market and regulatory-legal concerns that it said led to its decision to close the Camino and Sonora facilities:
• The drop in new home construction has reduced both demand for lumber and the price for finished products.
• The fall-off in national forest and private timber for sale has made supplies uncertain.
• The complexity and cost of the Timber Harvest Plan review process has slowed plan approval, and time limits on the plans have made it difficult to adjust to market conditions.
The combined factors, "leave us no choice but to close the plants," said SPI spokesman Mark Pawlicki.
Ryan Land, area manager for SPI, said "it is ironic that California is still importing most of its lumber from places with lower environmental standards. We hope the time will come when more of the lumber needed in this state is produced in California's mills."
Federal and state forestry and environmental officials did not return calls seeking comment. They have consistently maintained that their regulations are designed to preserve the state's forest lands for the public, wildlife and other enterprises besides timber-harvesting.
Pawlicki said workers in Camino and Sonora were informed of the planned closures on Monday.
"SPI will consider affected employees for other potential opportunities within the company for those who are interested in relocating or transferring," Pawlicki said.
Pawlicki said SPI "would keep the equipment in the mills in case things change," but he added, "that looks doubtful at this point."
The Camino sawmill has been a fixture of the small community's economy for 120 years, riding out numerous boom-and-bust cycles.
Until now, the mill's darkest days were in 1994, when then-owner, Michigan-California Lumber Co., said it could no longer harvest enough timber from national forests – primarily the nearby Eldorado – to keep the mill running.
The company blamed the expected loss of 280 jobs and a $12 million payroll on environmentalists who pushed federal authorities to protect the California spotted owl on surrounding forest lands.
In early 1994, Camino merchants and residents heavily dependent on the mill and its jobs expressed their anger at community meetings and other gatherings.
In May of that year, the U.S. Justice Department approved the sale of the mill to SPI, which kept it open and retained all the workers. Officials had previously denied the sale on fears that SPI would have a monopoly in the region but reversed themselves based on a comparative lack of lumber sales in the area.
The closings in Camino and Sonora are the latest in the string of setbacks announced by SPI in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, SPI announced that it will close its small-log mill in Quincy on May 4, eliminating about 150 jobs in the Plumas County town. Then, on March 17, SPI said it will reduce production at its Arcata plant in Humboldt County, putting 48 employees out of work. Those layoffs took effect Monday.
There goes another 280 local jobs. Maybe the FS can hire these people with their new 300 million stimulus dollars?
March 24, 2009
Officials try to avert Tahoe beetle infestation
http://www.rgj.com/article/20090324/NEWS18/90324044/1321/NEWS
By Jeff DeLong
jdelong@rgj.com
Foresters have issued a “call to action” to prevent further spread of a major bark beetle epidemic, with targeted land including the Lake Tahoe area and other parts of the Sierra.
About 2.4 million acres of “high priority” at risk of being overrun by beetles have been identified for potential treatment by the Council of Western State Foresters. Much of the land is in the Sierra and near communities where widespread tree mortality could produce extreme fire danger.
“The Tahoe Basin is a perfect spot” to try and get ahead of a beetle infestation that threatens about 22 million acres of forest across the West,” said Pete Anderson, Nevada’s state forester and chairman of the forestry council.
The estimated cost of treating the 2.4 million acres is at least $300 million over five years, Anderson said.
Vast swaths of timber in places Colorado and Montana have been invaded by beetles, with millions of acres affected.
Recent drought, which makes trees more susceptible to beetle attack, has worsened the situation and put the Sierra at risk.
Experts say an opportunity exists to defend forests in the Sierra, other parts of Northern California, Washington and Oregon, Anderson said.
“We’re looking at areas where we think we can cut them off,” Anderson said. “We’re trying to target where we can do the most good.”
Thinning overgrown forests is the most effective way to avoid beetle infestation “so you don’t have a host,” Anderson said.
Spraying chemicals also can be effective in the early stages of infestation, he said.
Signs of local attacks by mountain pine beetles emerged last year in pockets of timber near Mount Rose and elsewhere along the Carson Range, including near Heavenly Mountain Resort near South Lake Tahoe and in the Little Valley area between Reno and Carson City.
In the wake of two drier-than-normal winters, the potential of a third increases the chance beetles will proliferate across the region, said Gail Durham, forest health specialist for NDF.
A healthy tree can easily fend off attacks by a few beetles by secreting resin and essentially booting the bugs out of its bark. But when trees are unhealthy in overcrowded stands, particularly when stressed by drought, their defense mechanisms are weakened.
Beetles attack successfully and while doing so, secrete perfume-like pheromones that attract hordes of invaders. The insects kill trees by chewing through bark and introducing harmful fungi, interfering with movement of water and nutrients.
The scope of the West’s current infestation is so great that foresters must target specific areas for treatment, Anderson said.
“We cannot, and should not try, to treat all the acres affected,” Anderson said. “That is why the assessment lays out a plan for prioritization, looking at all the factors at risk.”
As a “national priority,” Lake Tahoe may be in a strong position to secure some of the $300 million needed to prevent infestation and reduce resulting fire danger, Anderson said. About $75 million has already been spent treating about 500,000 acres of western forests.
“The problem is way larger than we have funding for,” he said. “There’s way more bugs than money.”
During a lengthy drought from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, bark beetles posed serious problems in the Sierra. About 30 percent of the pines and firs in the Lake Tahoe Basin alone were killed.