South Dakota
Changed forest and market factors share blame for sawmill troubles, forest supervisor says • South Dakota Searchlight
Changed forest conditions and market forces likely contributed to layoffs at a Spearfish sawmill, according to the U.S. Forest Service’s top official in the Black Hills.
Last week, the owner of the sawmill blamed logging reductions in the Black Hills National Forest for the layoffs.
The forest’s supervisor is Shawn Cochran. He said this week that the Forest Service was saddened to hear about the laid-off employees, and the agency is concerned about the economic health of sawmills.
“The mills here in South Dakota and across the West are facing what appear to be some tough times,” Cochran said. “It’s not necessarily tied to just the timber supply chain, because we’re seeing the same things happen all throughout the West with mill closures.”
South Dakota Searchlight confirmed about 1,700 job losses at sawmills across the country since September, based on news reports about mill closures or layoffs in Florida, Montana, West Virginia, Oregon and Arkansas.
Companies cited outdated facilities, labor and housing shortages, rising costs, and plummeting lumber prices. One measure of those prices, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ producer price index for softwood lumber, has fallen by 56% since a peak in 2021. The “softwood” description includes the Black Hills’ predominant tree species, ponderosa pine.
Wyoming-based Neiman Enterprises announced 50 layoffs Thursday at Spearfish Forest Products, the company’s mill in South Dakota’s northern Black Hills.
Neiman said the layoffs were “the direct result of reductions to the Black Hills National Forest timber sale program.” The company made similar comments in 2021 when it closed its other South Dakota mill in Hill City.
A year prior to that closure, Forest Service researchers said severe wildfires and a pine beetle epidemic had drastically reduced the number of trees big enough for logging in the Black Hills. Those trees, called sawtimber, measure at least 9 inches in diameter at a point 4.5 feet above the ground. The forest had only half the sawtimber-size trees needed to sustain the level of timber sales allowed in the forest plan, the researchers said.
Some members of the timber industry disputed the research. Neiman’s Thursday news release included a statement from Ben Wudtke, executive director of a timber industry trade group called the Black Hills Forest Resource Association. Wudtke said “we have more timber now than in the ’70s and ’80s when the Black Hills National Forest was selling twice the amount of timber.”
The Forest Service initially declined to respond; then, on Monday, the Forest Service offered interviews with Cochran to several media outlets.
In his interview with Searchlight, Cochran defended the Forest Service research.
“The forest is very much in a changed condition,” he said.
There are many young trees in the forest, he added, which have sprouted in the wake of the pine beetle epidemic and severe wildfires. But those are not sawtimber size.
“More volume than ever?” he said, responding to a question about Wudtke’s statement. “I’d say, yes, we have a tremendous amount of volume that’s 9 inches and below. However, 9 and above, that has dramatically declined.”
Cochran said the Forest Service has spent $70 million during the last 10 years to help the Black Hills timber industry weather changing forest conditions. He did not provide a full breakdown of costs but said the amount includes stewardship sales. In those sales, the Forest Service covers some of the high costs that timber companies encounter in difficult logging areas, such as steep slopes.
There are more steep-slope areas to harvest, Cochran said, but logging those areas would come at great cost to the Forest Service, since companies need help to make steep-slope logging profitable. Cochran said the Forest Service’s cost to continue a full program of steep-slope logging on the forest could be up to $20 million.
“There is a need to do that, but there are also other needs on the forest,” Cochran said.
The Forest Service also spent $3 million on a pilot project to transport timber by train from other parts of the country to Neiman’s mill in Hulett, Wyoming.
“The last thing we want to do is see additional mill closures, and that’s why the Forest Service is investing heavily in the timber industry,” Cochran said.
Yet the changed conditions in the forest and the high costs of steep-slope logging remain “driving factors” for timber sales, Cochran added.
The Forest Service measures timber volume in a unit called “CCF,” with 1 CCF equaling 100 cubic feet. The agency plans to sell 63,000 CCF of timber in the Black Hills National Forest this fiscal year. That continues several years of reductions and is about a third of the allowable sale quantity of 181,000 CCF in the forest plan.
Sawmill layoffs and closures
Some recent sawmill layoffs and closures around the country:
- April 11, 2024: Neiman Enterprises says it will lay off 50 employees at Spearfish Forest Products.
- March 29, 2024: A company spokesperson confirms the closure of the West Fraser Sawmill in Perry, Florida, affecting 126 workers.
- March 20, 2024: Roseburg announces the closure of its particleboard plant in Missoula, Montana, and the layoffs of 150 employees.
- March 14, 2024: Pyramid Mountain Lumber in Seeley Lake, Montana, announces its plan to wind down operations and close, affecting 100 employees.
- Feb. 25, 2024: West Virginia state officials confirm that Allegheny Wood Products will shut down, eliminating jobs for 850 employees and contractors.
- Feb. 16, 2024: A Canadian company, Interfor, says it will shut down its Philomath, Oregon, sawmill, and cut 100 jobs.
- Feb. 9, 2024: Resboro Co. confirms the closure of a mill in Springfield, Oregon, and the layoffs of 25 workers.
- Jan. 10, 2024: Hampton Lumber says its sawmill in Banks, Oregon, will shut down indefinitely, leaving 58 employees without work.
- Jan. 9, 2024: West Fraser Timber Co. announces the closure of its sawmill in Maxville, Florida, affecting 80 employees, and also announces a plan to “indefinitely curtail” operations at its sawmill in Huttig, Arkansas, affecting 140 employees.
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(SOUTH DAKOTA SEARCHLIGHT) – Democrats are running for 46 of South Dakota’s 105 legislative seats — leaving 56% of seats without a Democratic candidate.
That doesn’t bode well for the party ahead of November, said Michael Card, professor emeritus of political science at the University of South Dakota.
“It doesn’t put them in a position to actually put forward their ideological policy preferences and have much of a success at getting those enacted,” Card said.
In the state Senate alone, Democrats have failed to field a candidate for 22 seats, which is nearly two-thirds of the chamber. In the House, Democrats have failed to field a candidate for 38 seats, which is 54% of the chamber.
There is only one Democratic legislative primary in the state: a state Senate race in District 26, which includes the Rosebud Reservation.
There are no statewide Democratic primaries, after announced candidates for governor and U.S. House dropped out or failed to gather enough petition signatures to make the ballot, leaving one Democrat in each of those races.
Statewide candidates will have less name recognition than Republican candidates ahead of the general election, since they didn’t have primaries, Card said. In the Legislature, Card said Democrats “are guaranteeing they won’t get a majority.”
In contrast, Republicans have primary races for governor, U.S. House and U.S. Senate. Five legislative districts do not have Republican primaries, but do have Republican candidates. There is a Republican candidate running for every legislative seat, except for one House seat in District 27, which includes the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Card said there are several factors leading to poor candidate turnout among Democrats, including a self-fulfilling cycle of failure.
“A lack of winning makes fewer people willing to take a chance on running for office,” Card said. “Why run if I think I’m going to lose?”
Democrats haven’t held a statewide office since 2015, and they haven’t held a majority of either legislative chamber since 1994.
Joe Zweifel, deputy executive director of the South Dakota Democratic Party, said the organization worked “really, really hard” to convince Democrats to run for office.
“But you can’t force people to run for office,” said Zweifel, of Sioux Falls, who’s running for a legislative seat himself in District 12.
He’s heard the open seats called a “failure.” But he disagrees, choosing to focus on the Democrats who did step forward.
“We’re running quality, good candidates in those races,” Zweifel said.
The South Dakota Democratic Party hopes to build on legislative successes, such as a new law from Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Sioux Falls, that commits state funding to cover the family portion of reduced-price school meals.
“That specifically is a return on investment for our donors, and it shows that Democrats are doing good things for the people of South Dakota,” Zweifel said.
Wittman’s success helped inspire Democratic District 13 House of Representatives candidate Ali Rae Horsted, of Sioux Falls, to take a second run at the Legislature. Horsted ran unsuccessfully for the Senate against Sen. Sue Peterson in 2024, garnering 42% of the vote.
Horsted plans to build on that success and the name recognition she already has in the district. She hopes she’ll have “better odds” in this election, since there are two House seats for every district.
Horsted said it would better serve South Dakota if the state had a more balanced Legislature. While the latest Legislature was 92% Republican, 52% of voters in South Dakota are Republican. South Dakota has the lowest percentage of Democrats, 7.6%, in the Legislature nationwide.
“I think it’s important that people have options on the ballot,” Horsted said, “and people are able to vote for candidates that represent their values and their vision for the future of South Dakota.”
Makenzie Huber is a lifelong South Dakotan who regularly reports on the intersection of politics and policy with health, education, social services and Indigenous affairs. Her work with South Dakota Searchlight earned her the title of South Dakota’s Outstanding Young Journalist in 2024, and she was a 2024 finalist for the national Livingston Awards.
South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
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From East River to West River, South Dakota communities share a common goal: creating places where people of all ages can live, work and thrive. AARP’s Domains of Livability provide a framework to help communities do just that. Through the AARP Community Challenge grant program—designed to spark quick, impactful local projects—South Dakota communities are turning big ideas into visible, people-centered improvements.
Read the South Dakota Community Challenge Grant Report, which showcases grant-funded projects across the state designed to build more livable communities.
What Are AARP’s Domains of Livability?
AARP’s approach to livable communities is rooted in eight interconnected domains that together support quality of life at every age:
- Outdoor Spaces and Buildings – Safe, accessible parks, streets and public buildings
- Transportation – Affordable, accessible options for getting around
- Housing – A range of choices that support independence
- Social Participation – Opportunities to connect, learn and have fun
- Respect and Social Inclusion – Communities that value people of all backgrounds and ages
- Civic Participation and Employment – Meaningful ways to engage and contribute
- Communication and Information – Clear, accessible ways to stay informed
- Community Support and Health Services – Access to services that support well-being
These domains work best when addressed together—something South Dakota communities are embracing.
Turning Vision into Action with Community Challenge Grants
AARP Community Challenge grants fund short-term, “quick-action” projects that can ignite long-term change. Across South Dakota, these grants have helped communities pilot ideas, build momentum and demonstrate what’s possible when residents put people first.
Here’s how local projects are bringing the Domains of Livability to life:
- Outdoor Spaces and Buildings: Communities have used grants to enhance parks, create pop-up public spaces, add benches and shade and install wayfinding signs. These improvements invite people to linger, gather, and enjoy shared spaces—supporting both physical activity and social connection.
- Transportation: Small, thoughtful transportation projects can make a big difference. Community Challenge grants have supported safer crossings, improved walkability and bikeability around key destinations and the planning or installation of transit amenities like shelters and seating—especially important for older adults and people with mobility challenges.
- Housing and Community Support: Some projects focus on helping residents age in place by improving access to information about home modification resources or by testing neighborhood-level solutions that connect people to services. These efforts strengthen independence and peace of mind.
- Social Participation and Inclusion: Murals, community events and creative placemaking projects funded by AARP grants have sparked community pride and social connection. By involving residents in design and implementation, these projects foster respect, inclusion and a strong sense of belonging across generations.
- Communication, Civic Participation and Opportunity: From hosting community conversations to creating new tools for sharing local information, South Dakota communities are using grants to engage residents in shaping their future. These efforts elevate local voices and encourage ongoing civic participation.
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