Eel River Liquidates A Little At A Time

Five years ago, Eel River Sawmills had 550 employees. Today, after the majority of its assets have been sold, it employs 24-22 of them at subsidiary Fairhaven Power Co.

Eel River is forced to sell because it is held primarily by the late owners' trust, which stipulates all assets be transferred to a non-profit foundation. Due to legal requirements restricting how much stock can be owned in a non-profit, the trust's shares must be redeemed, according to Dennis Scott, president of Eel River Sawmills.

"That means we have to sell the assets of the company and we have been trying to sell it for six years," Scott said. "It's been difficult to sell because there have been two major lawsuits filed against the company that have had an adverse effect on the sale of the company's assets."

So far, Eel River has sold two sawmills, auctioned off a third. and has been steadily selling off its timberlands. It still holds about 19,000 acres of land and the power company.

The Grace & Melvin McLean Foundation has given away about $1 million to needy individuals. But for- mer employees say the Mcleans' legacy has been tarnished.

"The money held and distributed by the foundation is, in the eyes of many people in our region, considered to be tainted with the broken promise made to the employees with the blood, sweat and tears of those employees who helped enrich both the trust and the foundation," said former mill worker Dean Blake.

Workers filed two lawsuits in 2001-one a class action suit brought by at least 450 plaintiffs who claim the Mcleans promised to transfer ownership of the company to the employees upon their death.

Scott said the claim is inaccurate. "The stock had to be purchased, not given," he said. "The money to purchase the stock had to come out of company profits but because we were running out of logs, the stocks could not be purchased. We had to curtail our operations because of lack of logs. The company could not generate enough profit to buy any stock."

Yet, such information was kept from employees, said attorney Bill Bertain, and "employees proceeded to work for many years under the assumption that [Mcl-ean's] promise would be kept."

The second suit accuses the company of mismanagement. Scott considers both suits frivolous and taxing to the the company's limited resources. "Our board of directors did a review regarding mismanagement as required by law and there was no mismanagement," he said.

Bertain expects the class-action trial to begin by March 2006.

"Mailman" Starts Timber Firm

After 19 years in the NBA, Karl Malone has retired from basketball and started his own timber company.

The former Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers player will personally run Malone Timber Co., Choudrant, La., with his son, Darrell Ford, who has a forestry degree from Louisiana Tech-the same school where Malone started his basketball career.

Malone got the idea for the business while clearing the woods near his new home in Choudrant. His company was then hired by the housing subdivision to thin trees on unsold lots and future development property.

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High Sierra Buys Lampe

High Sierra Lumber, Woodlake, Ca., purchased Lampe Lumber in Tulare, Ca., just days after Home Depot's announcement that it would open a new store in town.

"We've been competing against the big boys for years," said Tom Griesbach, a member of the Lampe family who will stay with the new company.

Jerry Kramlich, one of High Sierras' two managers in Woodlake, will relocate and manage the Tulare store. A spokesman for the company said most of Lampe's current workface-about 20-will remain and about 15 new workers may be added.

High Sierra, recently honored as Woodlake Business of the Year, was formed by local investors in mid-2003 to open a building supply company after the last one left town.

Used Material Outlet Grows

In its just-completed expansion, a North Portland, Or., used building material yard practiced what it preaches-almost exclusivey using recycled products off its own shelves to build two additional warehouses.

The nonprofit ReBuilding Center's existing 24,000-sq. ft. facility was "almost full," according to executive director Shane Endicott. Last month, construction was completed on new 17,000-sq. ft. and 11,000-sq. ft. warehouses featuring pre-owned doors, windows, siding and plywood.

"You've got to see it to believe it," said Endicott. "It's all salvaged wood and salvaged windows. In between the steel beams, the panels are actually salvaged materials. There's a lot going on there."

Ace Buyers Meet At NHS

For the first time, Ace Hardware is holding an "open buying" event at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas, Nv.. May l8-19.

In private meetings with the company's merchandise managers, vendors will be able to pitch their latest and best products.

The largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the industry, Ace wants to expand product choices for its 4,800 independent stores. Product categories for the two-day event include lawn and garden, outdoor living, electrical, plumbing, housewares, tools, and paint supplies.

To be considered, companies must send contract information, background on the product(s) being offered, and company details to openbuying@acehardware.com. Ace will then schedule first-come, first-served appointments for interested vendors.

Prr-co Secures More Permits

The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board approved new timber harvest permits for Puco, Scotia. Ca.. in the Freshwater Creek and Elk River watersheds.

The board voted 5-3 to allow Pe,rco to log up to 75Vo of the timber spread across the 1,100 acres in the two disputed areas-more than 25Vo more than was allowed by the board's executive director last month (see March, p.5).

Although this decision could boost Pelco revenues by $20 million, it may not be enough. "I don't think much has changed," said Pelco president Robert Manne. "We still need all the plans. Our lenders are not likely to be satisfied."

As part of the deal, Pe,lco must take steps to limit flood damage and provide drinking water to residents downstream in case of flooding.

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Diebold Lumber Expands

A $5.5 million expansion at Carl Diebold Lumber Co., Troutdale, Or., is expected to put 25 more workers on its payroll and boost sales at least2o%o annually.

Seven acres were paved and a twostory building was built to house stateof-the-art equipment: three new kilns, a stacking machine, a boiler, and a cooling shed.

Previously, Diebold's custom millwork customers had to truck their wood to kilns in Eugene, Or., and Washington state for drying. Now the company can do more for existing customers, attract new customers, and, according to president Jim Patrick, keep "the valleys and peaks a little more steady."

Diebold decided against buying older kilns at auction from closed mills. "You can buy them fairly cheap, but you don't get up-to-date technology," said Patrick. "You have more problems. In the long run, we have found, it's more advantageous to buy new."

The new stacking machine reduces what used to be a daylong job down to an hour. The new kilns boost energy efficiency and cut emissions.