Columbia Falls, Montana, USA, 10 March 2009 -- Plum Creek today announced that it will restart its sawmill in Columbia Falls on 16 March, bringing approximately 140 workers back to the mill to work one and one-half shifts. This is in response to a recent improvement in one segment of the wood products industry.

While the overall market remains weak, an uptick in customer demand for pine boards allows the company to resume production at the mill. “We are watching for signs of improvement in the wood products markets and see a modest gain in the demand for pine boards in the repair and remodel market,” said Tom Ray, vice president Montana operations. “The recent positive trend in pine board demand will let us bring some people in Columbia Falls back to work. However, the broader housing market remains weak.”

Plum Creek’s Ksanka sawmill in Fortine, as announced in January, is scheduled to close permanently. The mill will saw the final logs on 12 March. The planer will continue to run until 24 March. The sawmill in Evergreen, which has been temporarily curtailed since January, is not scheduled to re-open before late April 2009.

Plum Creek is the largest and most geographically diverse private landowner in the nation, with approximately 7 million acres of timberlands in major timber producing regions of the United States and 10 wood products manufacturing facilities in the Northwest. The company owns and manages more than 1 million acres of forestland in Montana, and has committed more than 600,000 acres of land to conservation in the state since 1989. For more information about Plum Creek in Montana, visit www.plumcreek.com/montana.