The closure of the facility is necessitated by the continued weakness in dimension lumber prices, says TreeSource president Bob Lockwood. "This was not the outcome we desired but with the mill's benchmark product, green Douglas-fir 2x10's, continuing to sell at levels not seen in more than ten years despite near record level housing starts, economic circumstances dictate the mill's closure," says Lockwood. "The flood of subsidized Canadian lumber in to the U.S. continues to depress lumber prices causing a loss of jobs as U.S. sawmills close."

Last Friday, the World Trade Organization (WTO) found that U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber violate international trade rules and that the United States was wrong in finding that Canadian provincial stumpage programs are subsidies. The final WTO report on Canada's challenge of the U.S. Department of Commerce's preliminary determination of subsidy is expected in September.

"We have known all along that our industry is not subsidized," Minister Pettigrew added. "This decision reinforces our strategy to defend our industry by challenging U.S. trade actions in every venue available. The Government of Canada will continue to defend the interests of our industry, workers and communities."