Press Release

(EUGENE, OR) Seneca Sawmill Company has announced to their 420 employees that it has made the difficult decision to reduce its Eugene-based workforce by eliminating its third shift from production, effective Monday, April 14th.

General Manager, Rick Re, stated, "The shift reduction will mean the loss of a family-wage job for 115 hard-working men and women in our community.

"Two on-going factors have led to this difficult decision. The first being the illegal dumping of government-subsidized Canadian wood products into the United States, and the second being the current crisis in Federal forest management which has brought harvesting to a virtual halt. We had sincerely hoped these issues would have been solved by now - but that is not the case, added Re, "We're not sure when the Canadian issue will be resolved. This situation has created an extremely unfair competitive advantage for Canadian producers at the expense of our excellent employees and a great Oregon industry."

Re also noted that efforts are underway in both the regulatory and legislative arenas to modernize Federal forest management rules and regulations. "The Administration is pushing for the Healthy Forests Initiative, emphasizing forest management solutions to the nation's crisis in forest health that is contributing to catastrophic fires which devastate water, habitat and air. However, these badly-needed changes are being challenged by certain environmental groups who utilize stall tactics to keep on-the-ground activities from taking place - thus impacting fiber supply to mills like our own."

Employees were notified by letter from mill management and one-on-one meetings will take place in the coming days with impacted employees in an effort to make the transition as smooth as possible.

"While this action is a bitter disappointment, we are going to pursue a course of business that recognizes economic reality and will keep us competitive for the long term. It is extremely unfortunate we've had to make this decision. Our employees are some of the hardest working, most efficient producers in the industry. In addition, our mills may be the most efficient in the World. But we're facing political and legal issues that are above and beyond our control that require this action," stated Re.

Seneca Sawmill Company was founded by Aaron U. Jones and has been in operation since 1954, manufacturing high-quality lumber products. The Seneca Family of Companies also owns and manages forestlands in the region.