Innovative family mill, Stoltze turns 110

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

Mary Harris was cleaning up around the place, going through some old papers that a cousin had given her when she came upon one document of local interest.

It was the articles of incorporation for the State Lumber Co., which would be later called the F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Co. The document, in yellowing paper, was dated Dec. 10, 1898 and was filed with the state two days later.

Harris, a hobby historian, had almost thrown out the defining document of one of the oldest privately-owned mills in the Northwest. Stoltze land and Lumber will turn 110 in a few days.

The original state mill was south of what is now the Montana Veterans' Home campus, along the Flathead River. The mill operated there for a few years and then moved to a location on the east bank of the Whitefish River. The Whitefish River location would eventually run out of a log supply so the mill was moved again, this time to the Half Moon site, where the Stoltze Mill is still located.

Construction of the Half Moon Mill took five years with the first logs being sawn in May, 1923, according to former Stoltze general manager Ronald Buentemeier, who has researched the mill's history extensively.

In the early days, mills were located near a water supply or train rails to transport logs and lumber. It wasn't uncommon in the early days for a mill located on river to lose their logs to flood, only to have a mill further downstream take claim to the loot.

Stoltze has weathered economic storms in the past and faces another one today, Buentemeier noted. The mill survived the Great Depression, World War II, fires (one, in 1956, completely destroyed the sawmill) and a host of other challenges.

So what's its secret to success?

For one, it has great employees, Buentemeier said. Secondly, the Stoltze family has been willing to take the hard knocks when times were tough and has invested millions in the plant in terms of new technology and innovations.

They've also taken pains to adapt to the marketplace. Witness the new agreement between the company and Western Building Center, where Stoltze's product goes directly to a value-added facility. It's a win-win not just for the customer, but for the community. The community has also benefited from the mill; not only does it employ more than 120, but it also supports various civic organizations here.

Technology has also brought efficiency to the plant. Saws are run by computer that extract the most value out of each log and the mill is also eyeing a co-generation plant that would utilize waste wood and scraps to generate electricity not only for the mill, but for the entire valley.

In the past five years, Stoltze has invested more than $5 million into its operation, said current vice president and general manager Chuck Roady.

Roady said the co-generation plant would provide an energy source for the company's boilers and could also provide a clean source of electricity for the valley. The company's boilers have held up admirably to this point — they date back to the early 1900s. But the co-generation project is still a ways off, Roady cautions.

"It's a perfect time politically and environmentally," Roady said. "But one of the worst times financially."

A co-gen plant would utilize waste wood from the mill and from the timber harvest operation. Utilizing trees for fuel in high-efficiency furnaces produces virtually no pollutants and is also nearly carbon neutral, since the fuel — trees — grows back.

But there are still plenty of challenges, Buentemeier notes. A lack of a steady timber supply is one of the main threats to the mill, as the Forest Service simply doesn't sell as much timber as it used to.

The company owns 36,000 acres of its own timberlands, but those can't supply enough for the mill, which uses about 35 million board feet of timber a year.

Those lands have always been open to public use for hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreation. Stoltze has proven to be a true neighbor through its history, Buentemeier notes.