Hundreds of Montana timber workers will keep their jobs in mills in Evergreen and Columbia Falls, this after forest products giants Plum Creek Timber and Weyerhaeuser consummated their merger today.
The $8 billion deal was announced last November, but shareholders only approved it today, according to the Flathead Beacon. Weyerhaeuser says it will relocate an unspecified number of Plum Creek administrative jobs to Weyerhaeuser headquarters in Washington state.
Weyerhaeuser also said today that all of the Montana land holdings it’s acquiring in the merger with Plum Creek will remain open to public access.
That’s a huge relief to Land Tawney of the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers group.
"We’re very excited about it and pleased that Weyerhaeuser listened to the Montana people and our traditions. We hope that not only does it continue that way in Montana, but that has implications in other states where not necessarily do they have open and free access to the public.”
In Oregon and Washington, Weyerhaeuser charges the public fees to access its property. Today’s merger gives Weyerhaeuser a timberlands portfolio of more than 13 million acres, making it the largest private owner of timberland in the United States.
