Intermountain Resources idles Montrose, Colorado, lumber mill because of log shortage caused by record winter snowfalls, recent rains

Audrey Dixon

LOS ANGELES , July 14, 2011 (Forestweb) – Intermountain Resources LLC curtailed operations this week at its 100-employee lumber mill in Montrose, Colorado, because record winter snowfalls have left the woods too wet for logging trucks, The Daily Sentinel reported July 13.

Montrose, Colorado-based Intermountain Resources opened the mill for three hours Tuesday, but it was closed all day Wednesday and expected to remain closed the rest of the week, said Patrick Donovan, managing director of Denver-based receiver Cordes & Company, which is operating the mill while it is in receivership..

The mill will stockpile as many logs as possible so it can resume full operations Monday, Donovan said. The mill averages 20 truckloads of logs a day but only received 17 since Tuesday, reported The Daily Sentinel.

Adding to the problem of high and late snowfalls and recent heavy rains is the number of pine beetle-killed trees. The dead trees in the company's timber sales in the Vail, Colorado, area, absorb less water than live trees, leaving roads too wet for logging trucks, said Donovan.

Previously, the Montrose mill sourced its logs from a number of areas. Contract disagreements with the Forest Service have restricted its access to the two areas, according to Donovan, The Daily Sentinel reported.

 Donovan said he had been working with the office of U.S. Senator Mark Udall this year to get action on timber contracts.


The primary source of this article is The Daily Sentinel, Grand Junction, Colorado, on July 13, 2011.

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