Reports in late March indicate that Pyramid Mountain Lumber plans to close its Seeley Lake, Mont. sawmill. Pyramid announced its board of directors and shareholders unanimously voted “with the heaviest of hearts” to shut the mill and wind down operations as a result of a financial crisis that is worse than challenges the mill weathered in 2000, 2007 and 2015.

“Among other problems, labor shortages, lack of housing, unprecedented rising costs, plummeting lumber prices, and the cost of living in western Montana have crippled Pyramid’s ability to operate,” the company said.

The mill employed at least 100. Grant Kier, head of the Missoula Economic Partnership, said the announcement is devastating for people who have built lives and livelihoods around the mill.

“This is a huge community institution and part of their community identity,” Kier said. “It’s a tough blow at the local level and for the community, but it’s also a significant impact on the wood products and forest industry.”

A news release from Pyramid said the company was founded in 1949 and has been family-owned and operated since then. Roger Johnson served as president and general manager of Pyramid for more than 60 years. Two of his sons, Todd and Steve, currently serve as president/general manager and sales manager, respectively.

Tom Browder, chairperson of the Seeley Lake Community Council, estimated the closure will mean roughly $4 million to $5 million in annual payroll will disappear from the community.

“We just have a serious housing problem in Seeley Lake, and it doesn’t just affect them,” Browder said of Pyramid.

Pyramid reportedly planned to cut off logs on March 31 and run the inventory through the sawmill, then surface and sell all lumber before auctioning off the mill equipment.

“The owners would like to thank our employees, both past and present, for their hard work and professionalism over the years,” Pyramid said. “Their dedication has truly been the difference between Pyramid and its competitors. The owners would also like to thank Seeley Lake and the surrounding communities for their support over the years.”

Fred Johnson (born in Norway) and Oscar Mood traveled from their timber work in Minnesota to Seeley Lake and in the winter of 1949 purchased the Bockmier Mill, renaming it J&M Lumber. In 1958 the company reorganized from the partnership between Johnson and Mood to a corporation owned by the two families and changed its name to Pyramid Mountain Lumber, named for Pyramid Peak that distantly overlooks the mill from the northeast at the southern reaches of the Flathead National Forest.

The Johnson-Mood partnership continued to 2001, when the Mood family sold its ownership to Charlie Parke, a successful logger in the area. Meanwhile, Fred’s son, Roger, ultimately took over leadership of the company from his father.

It was late in 2001 when Pyramid Mountain Lumber considered auctioning off its machinery and laying off workers, but a local bank rallied behind the company and collaborated with USDA Rural Development and other financial sources to put together a loan and credit package. This enabled Pyramid to continue a modernization effort. Sierra Pacific President Red Emmerson provided generous terms and sold them a nearly new Newnes-McGehee curve-sawing gang.

Another improvement came in 2006 with the purchase and installation of an end-dogging small log breakdown machine to complement the large log headrig. It would contribute several years later to the mill’s flexibility as margins improved with more favorable lumber prices and log costs.

The company continued to make periodic improvements to mill operations in the years since, including the installation of an automated lumber grading system in 2019, along with other modernizations to the planer mill.