Missoula County is reeling from the announcements recently of two huge wood products industry businesses closing and laying off all employees. 

Pyramid Mountain Lumber, the largest employer in Seeley Lake for 75 years, announced on March 14 it is permanently shutting down this spring. Less than a week later, Roseburg Forest Product’s Missoula particleboard plant announced it is permanently closing in May. 

Combined, the two companies are eliminating 250 jobs. They are the last two remaining large wood products businesses in the county, and the closures mark the end of a 150-year-era of wood products as an economic driver in the county.

With me today is David Erickson, a reporter at the Missoulian newspaper who’s been covering the news.