Vicksburg Forest Products To Reopen Anderson-Tully Sawmill 

Two months after it was initially announced, the sale of Anderson-Tully became official Monday. The Vicksburg-based sawmill was purchased by Vicksburg Forest Products LLC., which is headquartered in Jackson. The parent company of Vicksburg Forest Products also owns Southeastern Timber Products, which owns and operates a mill in Ackerman.

The purchase by Vicksburg Forest Products only includes the mill operation and not the roughly 300,000 acres of timberland owned by Anderson-Tully throughout Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas.

The State Of Mississippi is reportedly in discussions to purchase roughly 17,000 acres of that land located near Eagle Lake from Anderson-Tully to create a new Wildlife Management Area. When the impending sale was announced in March, a letter from the previous owners sent to Mississippi Department of Employment Security and local officials announced they would be laying off the entire workforce of 158 people.

A press release from Vicksburg Forest Products announcing the sale said the plant has been closed as they undergo “a significant investment project at the site.” When it reopens, it will no longer be operated under the name Anderson-Tully.

Assistant manager William Van Devender Jr. said they are not sure how many of the 158 positions terminated by the previous owner they will be rehiring once the plant reopens in July.