Pyramid Mountain Lumber is closer to full closure after running its last logs through the sawmill on Tuesday, silencing some of the giant machinery that has run for decades. 

The last mill in Missoula County announced its impending closure in March after suffering from a multi-year labor shortage and a drop in the value of timber products.

An almost empty scene on June 29, 2024, at the Pyramid Mountain Lumber log yard as the sawmill readies to process the last of its logs in Seeley Lake.

Approximately 10 people were expected to be let go by the company this week, said Pyramid General Manager Todd Johnson. Those employees and future layoffs will receive severance packages, he added.

"We took our last logs in March, that was step one. Today is step two," Johnson said in a phone call on Tuesday. "Every step you take closer to the closure brings a reality check to the situation."

Johnson said just a couple employees have left in the three months since the closure was announced. The mill has been working to process the last of the timber on site, with no new deliveries since March 29.

The mill's planer, which trims wood planks into their final products, will continue to run until the timber runs out, likely in early August. Employees will likely load the last truck out of the mill in late September, Johnson said.

While local, state and federal leaders hoped a buyer could keep the business alive, no deal has been made to extend the mill's life. One buyer in the wood products industry is still in talks with Pyramid as operations continue to wind down. 

Tim Wood, head grader at Pyramid Mountain Lumber, oversees operations at his station at the sawmill’s operating facility on June 19, 2024.

"I won't say more than that they wouldn't still be talking with us if they weren't serious," Johnson said during a site visit on June 19, but noted the group has said it would not continue the mill's current operations.

The Missoulian visited the site while the twisting and turning sawmill pumped out hundreds of board-feet of wood per minute. The loud shriek of moving metal parts drowned out any other noise as Pyramid sawmill workers monitored the conveyor belts of freshly cut planks. 

Many of the employees of the mill said they are holding hope out until the very end.

Tom Brechbill, a millwright who has worked at Pyramid for more than 40 years, said he will work through the end. After the mill closes, Brechbill said he plans to move for a job at another lumber mill in Montana.

"There's no work really here," said Brechbill, who was born and raised in Seeley Lake. "I only know planer, so I am going to find a sawmill somewhere. I can't commute to Columbia Falls every day."

While other businesses in Seeley Lake are struggling to find employees, those left at Pyramid pointed out that most of those jobs to do not pay as well or offer benefits that the mill has provided. 

Todd Johnson, president of Pyramid Mountain Lumber, oversees timber operations at the mill’s facility in Seeley Lake on June 24, 2024.

Dan Pratt, head planer at the mill, started at Pyramid when he was 18 years old. He took a break from the mill to work manufacturing in Bonner, then rejoined Pyramid in 2022. 

He said many of the mill workers have skills that are valued across industries in Montana, but the main barrier is the lack of housing, especially in other small western Montana towns. 

If the mill closes for good, Pratt has a job lined up in the Bitterroot Valley. But he said home prices there would make for a difficult transition. 

"But I don't know if I can make that commute, because by the time we can get housing there, it'll be a good year or two," Pratt said. 

The two will likely keep working through the summer as the last pieces of lumber are trimmed. Both workers told the Missoulian that if there is a chance for the mill to survive under new ownership, they would be there.

"This has always been a part of my family since I was here," Pratt said. 

Wood gets processed at the Pyramid Mountain Lumber sawmill facility in Seeley Lake on June 19, 2024.

As Johnson walked the back property of the mill, thousands of board-feet still occupied the property. More than a dozen employees will stick around through the summer and into the fall to clear the remaining inventory.

New giant mounds of sawdust framed the western skyline. After Roseburg Forest Products in Missoula closed in May, Pyramid has only one place to send its biproducts — but the lack of trucks means a backlog has started to grow.

Johnson compared the wood products industry to a three-legged stool: the logger, the mill and the biproduct.

"Without one of the three, the whole system malfunctions," Johnson said.

The loss of Pyramid will likely contribute to the decline of the wood products industry in western Montana. Loggers will have to drive farther to deliver their payloads, cutting into profits.

While he still hopes the mill can be saved, Johnson said he's focused on what he can control, which is responsibly closing the business and taking care of the remaining employees.

The lumber yard, which has secured hundreds of thousands of logs for decades, now sits empty.

Pyramid Mountain Lumber employees pose for a photo on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, as they ran the final loads of timber through the sawmill.

Pyramid Mountain Lumber employees Dan Pratt, left, and Tom Brechbill reflect on their years of work during a facility tour on June 19, 2024, as the sawmill nears its final days of timber processing operations in Seeley Lake.

Pyramid Mountain Lumber workers operate machinery at the timber mill operation facility in Seeley Lake on June 19, 2024.

Todd Johnson, president of Pyramid Mountain Lumber, oversees operations as he walks through the sawmill’s operating facility in Seeley Lake on June 19, 2024.

Todd Johnson, president of Pyramid Mountain Lumber, walks through the timber mill operation grounds in Seeley Lake on June 19, 2024.

A Pyramid Mountain Lumber worker flips wood planks at the sawmill’s operating facility in Seeley Lake on June 19, 2024.

Todd Johnson, president of Pyramid Mountain Lumber, seen here silhouetted during a tour of the sawmill on June 19, 2024.

Pyramid Mountain Lumber staff pile up wood planks at the sawmill’s facility in Seeley Lake on June 19, 2024.

Todd Johnson, president of Pyramid Mountain Lumber, showcases the company’s newest sawmill technology at their operating facility in Seeley Lake on June 19, 2024.

Scores of wood planks are pumped out at Pyramid Mountain Lumber’s sawmill facility in Seeley Lake on June 19, 2024.

Thousands of wood planks are laid out throughout Pyramid Mountain Lumber’s sawmill facility on June 19, 2024.

The final logs at Pyramid Mountain's lumber yard await the sawmill on Tuesday, July 2, 2024.