MFG Tour 2023 - Timber Tour

Description

The Flathead Timber Tour is held annually during Montana Forest Products Week. The purpose of the Timber Tour is to invite the greater Flathead Valley community to learn about the value and importance of natural resources to our economy.  

This year participants on the Timber Tour will learn about forest management, from harvest to production, during a tour of F.H. Stoltze's Columbia Falls lumber mill followed by a visit to an active Weyerhaeuser logging operation.

Founding in 1912, F.H.Stoltze is the oldest family-owned sawmill in Montana. On your tour you will witness our rand length sawmill processing logs into lumber from 6' to 20' in length and up to 12" in width. The tour will also see our Planer Mill which has a newly installed auto grader featuring AI.  Also Stoltze has the only co-generation plant in Montana. Using renewable wood energy, we are able to dry our lumber, heat our sawmill and put enough energy back into the grid to power 2500 homes per day.

Participants will trace the product back from mill to the forest.  Foresters will present on current and projected forest conditions, as well as active forest management objectives and sustainable harvest.  They will visit an acive site, discuss history and the advancing technology of mills, programs available, and how they as landowners can play a role in improving forest health while supporting local wood products industry.

All participants will ride a bus from the Kalispell Chamber to the tour. Closed Toe Shoes required; dress for the weather as parts of this tour are outside; tour participants should bring snacks and water.