LAPOINT, Uintah County — In 1998, when Marvin McDougal bought the Simper Sawmill in Vernal and Great Lakes Sawmill in Lapoint, he did so with the intent of combining the two mills and investing approximately $2 million to $3 million to build one modern, competitive facility. He renamed the mills West Slope Resources and went to work.

Two years later, McDougal has torn down the old Simper mill and announced the impending closure of West Slope Resources.

McDougal blames federal regulations and Forest Service policies for his decision. He laid off 20 workers at the Lapoint mill in December. His remaining eight employees are completing some finish-up work and will be dismissed in June. That is when he expects that the mill, which has been in business for roughly half a century, will close for good.

During the Clinton administration, state agencies that control forestry have, for all practical purposes, stopped selling any timber, McDougal said. The only hope he has now is for the Bush administration to turn things around.

The problem is, said McDougal, that probably won't happen in time to save his business, which primarily sells products for log homes all along the West Coast and surrounding states.

"What we were going to build here we will have to build somewhere else," McDougal said. "What wood is left here we'll still buy, but we'll have to take it out."

McDougal was born and reared in the timber industry and operates other mills and associated business ventures with his two brothers. He's in the business for the long haul and said he believes an increasing lack of common sense is responsible for the frustration felt in the timber industry these days.

He is outspoken on the issue of forest health and management, having addressed most county and city governments over the past year to discuss the plight of the forests from his point of view.

When he began operations in Uintah County, the Ashley National Forest was selling around 10 million board feet of timber a year. Last year, due to a protest by environmental groups who appealed a timber sale planned for the east slope of Trout Creek, the forest was able to offer only around 1 million board feet.

The appeal was overturned, and over the next three years about 9 million board feet will be up for sale. Between 4 million and 5 million board feet of commercial saw timber will be offered this June, said Ashley National Forestry Technician Kelly Wilkins. However, according to McDougal, it's still not enough to meet the operating and financial demands he needs to stay viable. Smaller lumber operators in the area — with much more at stake financially — are suffering the same fate, he said.

He said that not only will the community lose a sawmill, which he estimates contributes around $9 million to the local economy, but sooner or later it likely will suffer from a devastating fire on the Ashley National Forest because of policies that prevent faster harvest of dead and downed timber.

McDougal said he believes there is enough salvageable dead timber in the Ashley National Forest to provide 20 million board feet for harvesting each year for the next 20 to 25 years.

Bert Kulesza, supervisor of the forest, agrees with McDougal's figures, but he said forest management plans that once approved of a more rapid harvest rate now call for the removal of timber at a much slower pace to maintain the correct balance on a number of fronts.

"There are other things we have to consider: effects on wildlife, watershed and water quality, fisheries, the visuals and the aesthetics," Kulesza said. "There is enough timber up there, but you have to remove it in a balanced manner. When you consider all of those (factors), you tend to harvest less, so you can protect a lot of these other resources. In my view, it is wise land management."

Kulesza said he recognizes the frustrations of local loggers who, until the late 1990s, enjoyed a plentiful supply of the resource they need to sustain their livelihoods.

"Our forest plan said we harvested 200 to 350 million board feet of dead wood over the past 15 years," he said. "That's approximately 20 million board feet a year in primarily lodgepole pine. I think everyone who is in the business wants to make sure there will be a continued supply of wood, and there is going to be, but it won't be like the 1980s and 1990s when we were harvesting timber at an accelerated rate."

McDougal questions the wisdom of leaving heaps of wood on the forest floor and predicts that if the large volume of downed wood isn't removed in a timely manner it will help fuel a firestorm of gigantic proportions. He said he saw the same thing happen in 1996 in Oregon.

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Aside from federal policies — including former President Clinton's controversial roadless policy that has impacted 90 percent of the Ashley National Forest — one of McDougal's biggest complaints is with local forest officials who, he claims, "are not standing up to Washington."

"You can't go against the law, but you can write letters. . . . The local foresters will not stand up to the programs," he said.

Kulesza responds that it comes down to a delicate balancing act, not just with the environment, but with environmentalists. "I know Marvin and maybe others would like us to push harder, but we've got to provide a balanced program, and I would rather have a program that may not be as high (in usage) as someone wants, but doesn't get bogged down in appeals and lawsuits."


E-mail: state@desnews.com

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