Sawmill announces layoffs in Spearfish

Neiman Enterprises has announced layoffs and production reductions at Spearfish Forest Products, its last remaining facility in South Dakota.

The company says the decision is due to a decrease in the timber sale program on the Black Hills National Forest (BHNF).

“We have done everything possible to prevent this unfortunate outcome that will impact these employees, our community, and ultimately the health of the forest,” said Jim Neiman, President.

“We’ve weathered economic and market downturns over the decades. These layoffs, however, are a direct result of the reduction in the Forest Service timber sale program.”

Employees were notified on April 11. The company stated in a press release that it will continue to ensure appropriate resources are provided to around 50 employees who are affected and their families.

“On behalf of the Neiman family, we want to express our deepest gratitude to the affected employees for their hard work and dedication,” said Neiman.

“We’re committed to providing support during this challenging transition, including assistance with job placement and access to resources.”

This is the second time in under two years that Neiman Enterprises has announced shift reductions. In July, 2022, the company reduced hours at both of its sawmills, removing a shift in Hulett and reducing hours in Spearfish.

That move, too, was attributed to a reduction in timber harvests.

A year before, the company closed its mill in Hill City, SD, citing the same reason.

In response to the announcement, Ben Wudtke, Executive Director of the Black Hills Forest Resource Association, commented, “Some outspoken individuals leave out key science in hopes of painting a picture that all the timber has been cut on the BHNF and logging levels are no longer sustainable. The fact is that, as verified by a federal review of FS data, we have more timber now than in the 70s and 80s when the BHNF was selling twice the amount of timber and that these decisions to reduce the timber sale program now are rushing us towards the same forest conditions that resulted in the most recent pine beetle epidemic and fires that threatened our communities.

“History has shown again and again that decisions like that to reduce the BHNF timber sale program, are dangerous and come with serious consequences.”

Forest in Recovery

The need for a reduction in timber harvests did not happen overnight, says Shawn Cochran, BHNF Forest Supervisor. Since the turn of the millennium, the situation has changed completely.

“Starting in the early 2000s and even before that, the vast majority of the BHNF was mature, larger-sized trees that were available to meet Neiman Enterprise’s needs,” says Cochran.

Around this time, he continues, concern over wildfire potential led to “a very aggressive approach in trying to manage for conservation needs.”

During the same time period, according to Cochran, “For several years when the mountain pine beetle epidemic was active on the Black Hills, the Forest exceeded its allowable sale quantity in order to address that issue.”

Meanwhile, he says, “We had a lot of large, catastrophic fires that burned up a lot of timber and led to some additional salvage, but also really changed vast areas of the Forest and reduced what areas we will be able to harvest for decades to come.”

Add to this the thinning that has taken place in what he notes is one of the most heavily treated Forests in the nation, and Cochran describes the BHNF as “dramatically different” from the beginning of the century.

It’s now in recovery mode, he says.

“We’re seeing a lot of new growth, regeneration, across the Forest. The vast proportion of the timber we see out there is probably nine inches or less [in diameter],” he says.

Forest Plan

During the process of revising the Black Hills National Forest Management Plan, the United States Forest Service (USFS) determined that change would be needed because the 1997 forest timber plan was not consistent with actual, on-the-ground conditions.

Estimates suggested that the standing inventory of trees in the 5- to 14.9-inch diameter classes has decreased by between 32 and 43% on lands suitable for timber production. However, officials in Wyoming and South Dakota felt the initial assessments were incorrect and called for a rethink.

An ongoing lidar study is one of several ways through which the USFS is currently performing an in-depth assessment of the timber situation.

“It’s one of the most intensive studies in the country on the National Forest. We invested over $2 million on the study,” Cochran says. “What we’re hoping to get out of that is some real-time data, some very accurate data, on where the Forest is.”

Putting this together with other information being gathered, such as forest inventory analysis, has created a data set over seven terabytes in size that is now being analyzed at Colorado State University with an eye to seeing the results as early as midsummer.

This is intended to provide a clear picture of the future harvest potential of the Black Hills, says Cochran, “And what this would mean for an industry that depends on saw timber as opposed to one that can manage multiple forest products.”

The USFS intends to set up opportunities for the public to view the data and provide input once the analysis is complete, he says.

The Future

Along with its analysis of the timber situation, the USFS will also continue its program to bring in timber from further-flung forests in California and southern Oregon.

“Over the last two years, the USFS has invested $3 million in the timber transit pilot program and that’s along with a nonprofit called the National Wild Turkey Federation,” Cochran says.

“From what I gather, over 200 rail cars have moved nearly three million board-feet of timber to be processed at Neiman mills.”

The USFS intends to continue supporting the timber industry in whatever ways possible, he says.

“We look at the timber industry as a valuable partner for us in meeting our conservation need for the Black Hills and this issue is not a Black Hills issue. There are mills across the country that are facing a lot of hardship right now and several have closed,” Cochran says.

“It’s increased costs, it’s labor issues, it’s a very flat softwood market right now. Those are things we have no control over, but we’re doing everything we can to keep the mills around and support the local economies.”

In a press release announcing the layoffs penned by Sonja Merryman, Community Relations, the Neiman family states that it “recognizes the impacts this decision carries and has not reached it lightly”, offering thanks for the support from surrounding communities, organizations and stakeholders.