Redwood Mill to Be Shut Down

Pacific Lumber Co. will close its old-growth redwood mill next week, a sign of the still-slowing flow of timber to market and cause for concern for the facility’s 100 workers.

The mill is part of a Pacific Lumber complex in Scotia, about 30 miles south of Eureka. It was built in 1910, but its large saws that begin turning logs into boards have operated only sporadically for the past 18 months.

The scenario is nothing new for the once-bustling timber communities of California’s North Coast.

Many old-growth redwoods are part of environmentally sensitive areas that have been put off limits either by courts or loggers own cutting guidelines.