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

.Burned by Forest Service's double standard on burns (Great Falls Tribune Opinion, 9/2/2010)
…I am tired of the guilt trip that the U.S. Forest Service places on people while either allowing thousands of acres of trees to burn or, at times, personally lighting them on fire…

Beaverhead-Deerlodge NF names deputy supervisor (Montana Standard, 9/2/2010)
…Chuck Mark comes from the St. Joe Ranger District on the Idaho Panhandle National Forest…

Group proposes restoration plan (Missoula Independent, 9/2/2010)
…local residents are joining forces with the U.S. Forest Service to actively manage 13,000 acres of public land across the Marshall Creek, Woods Gulch and Lower Rattlesnake Creek drainages…

Plan to log Gallatin withdrawn (Billings Gazette, 9/2/2010)
…The Gallatin National Forest has withdrawn its East Boulder Fuels Reduction Project to re-examine the project in the wake of the re-listing of gray wolves…

Study shows wolves not helping aspen as much as thought (Daily Chronicle, 9/2/2010)
…"none of the aspen groves studied after wolf restoration appear to be regenerating," said Matt Kauffman, a USGS scientist and lead author of the study…

.Montana, Colorado and Idaho universities partner on study of fire and climate change (MSU News Service, 9/1/2010)
…The proposed research studies conducted in the U.S. and abroad, will help inform fire management decisions and educate the next generation of fire scientists and managers worldwide…

Officials tour proposed land swap sites in Rye Creek (Ravalli Republic, 9/1/2010)
…The proposal calls for swapping 1,920 acres of national forest land for an equal amount of ranch land in an effort to simplify boundaries between the two entities…

Sen. Tester pledges support for Montana biomass projects (Clark Fork Chronicle, 9/1/2010)
…Sen. Tester said biomass will play a key role in the nation's energy future, and noted that he has been a leader in promoting biomass energy…

Silviculture strategy to be phased in (Lake District News, 9/1/2010)
…Spurred by the pine beetle, the B.C. government will phase in an intensive silviculture strategy this fall to stave off future gaps in B.C.’s annual timber harvest…

.Donald Molloy: Judge wrecking Montana economy (Missoulian Op/Ed, 8/31/2010)
…I am trying to think of any person or company that has hurt western Montana's economy more than U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy. Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. could come close in tax revenue lost, but I think Molloy would get the trophy for jobs/industries destroyed in Montana…

.Tester discusses setbacks in Forest Jobs & Recreation Bill (Missoulian, 8/31/2010)
…"It still revolves around the cut language. There's going to be mechanical treatment in that bill - there's got to be."…

Billionaire funding climate change study on trees (ABC News, 8/31/2010)
…An unconventional experiment is taking place high above the ground in the branches of giant sequoias…

Busting some myths about national monuments (Daily Chronicle Guest Opinon, 8/31/2010)
…inclusive public discussions beats out fear-mongering any day of the week…

Downing fire crews scaled back (Ravalli Republic, 8/31/2010)
…Combine the steep, rocky and often downfall-strewn terrain near the western end of the fire with the area's recent wet weather and the potential for falling snags and conditions can become downright treacherous…

EPA's boiler rule could impact tens of thousands of jobs (AF&PA, 8/31/2010)
…17,000 jobs destroyed at pulp and paper mills could explode to 72,000 jobs lost in surrounding communities…

Remediation project a win-win (Independent Record, 8/31/2010)
…Real jobs are being created by this program, for highly skilled people being paid high wages,”…

What it will mean to lose the Whitebark Pine (New West, 8/31/2010)
…Whitebark pine is a species that plays a number of important ecological roles in high elevation communities…

Wildfires Op/Ed (Ravalli Republic Op/Ed, 8/31/2010)
…We need to write to our senators and congressmen and ask that they work toward changing Forest Service policies or get rid of that agency, and put independent contractors in that are controlled by the people's voice…

Downing Mountain fire 40% contained (Ravalli Republic, 8/30/2010)
…The fire, burning three miles west of Hamilton along the northeastern face of Downing Mountain, received about a tenth of an inch of rain Saturday night…

Forest fire smoke in the stratosphere (Science Daily, 8/30/2010)
…now discovering that changes in the frequency of occurrence and intensity of wildfires has substantial consequences for a variety of important problems including atmospheric change…

National forest snapshot (In Business Monthly, 8/30/2010)
…173,526 total estimated annual visits to national forests…

NW forests offer carbon dilemma (News Tribune, 8/30/2010)
…they also say that while slower-growing older trees store more carbon, younger trees absorb more carbon as they grow rapidly…

The forest fire that changed everything (Oregonian, 8/30/2010)
…It was this well-meaning policy that began to steadily lengthen the fire cycles in the forests of eastern Oregon and the rest of the interior West…

Davis Fire: Under Investigation (Independent Record, 8/29/2010)
…Three investigators were tight-lipped Saturday as they headed up a narrow road that follows Gould Creek, traveling to the site of the 2,170-acre wildfire that is about 8 miles southeast of Lincoln…

Forest Service, Denver Water team up to protect watersheds (Summit Daily News, 8/29/2010)
…Denver Water and the U.S. Forest Service are tackling forest restoration by splitting a $33 million commitment to treat 38,000 acres of forest land over the next five years…

Rec rehab (Montana Standard, 8/29/2010)
…It took Natural Resource Damage Program funds, as well as money from the Forest Service and Butte-Silver Bow County, to refurbish the 3,500-acre park that is now home to 25 miles of trails for non-motorized uses…

Forest Service seeks comments on power lines (Missoulian, 8/28/2010)
…Lolo National Forest Supervisor Debbie Austin said public comment is being sought by Sept. 24 on a plan by Missoula Electric Cooperative to bury about 1.7 miles of power line in four sections on Forest Service land along U.S. Highway 12…

Idaho firefighters busy on Clearwater, Nez Perce forest fires (Ravalli Republic, 8/28/2010)
…Heather Creek Fire was joined by several other smaller blazes and grew to more than 1,100 acres on Thursday evening. Now known as the Larkins Complex, the fires are being allowed to burn to improve wildlife habitat…

UM series to begin on air, water, lands (Missoulian, 8/28/2010)
…will feature speakers from a variety of disciplines to explore emerging issues in natural resources and environmental policy…

Burning mad (Independent Record, 8/27/2010)
…The Davis fire was started near Granite Butte by a Forest Service crew on Wednesday…

Helena forest ranger to residents: "I'm sorry" (Independent Record, 8/27/2010)
…“Why did you start a burn yesterday when we knew that the wind was going to blow 30 miles per hour two days ago?”…

Logging near largest Douglas Fir in the world angers environmentalists (Vancouver Sun, 8/27/2010)
…The Red Creek fir is not at risk from the TimberWest logging, said ministry spokeswoman Vivian Thomas. "It is in an old-growth management area and forest recreation site. It is in no danger of being logged," she said…

Lost in the Wilderness (New York Times Op/Ed, 8/27/2010)
…In response to the agencies’ inflexibility, groups of outdoor enthusiasts have lined up against any expansion of wilderness areas — an unfortunate result, because these people should be the natural constituents of a wilderness protection program…

.Fuel treatments reduce wildfire severity, tree mortality (USDA Pacific Northwest Research Station press release, 8/26/2010)
…has found that fuel treatments—even of only a few acres—can reduce fire severity and protect older trees desirable for their timber, wildlife, and carbon-storage value…

Beetle-kill plan calls for cuts on 9,415 acres (Independent Record, 8/26/2010)
…The plan calls for removing dead trees along 491 miles of national forest system roadways…

Elliston Face logging plan goes to back burner again (Independent Record, 8/26/2010)
…"It was difficult for me to pull that decision, because in my opinion it’s a good project and a lot of effort went into it,” Harp said. “The analysis stands, but we would need to go back and look at the elk hiding cover and do another analysis.”…

New risk assessment tools are changing fuel treatments (Wildfire Magazine, 8/26/2010)
…Mark Finney of the Missoula Fire Lab has developed much of the fire behavior models that underlie these systems, but other researchers have added important components to these new risk assessment frameworks…