Stoltze Timber Systems Awarded $1 Million in US Forest Service Funding for Development of Wood Processing Plant

Stoltze Timber Systems, located in Columbia Falls, Montana, is receiving $1 million in US Forest Service funding to support the development of a wood processing plant and allow the implementation of new timber water crossings.

Montana Senator John Tester’s office earlier this month announced the 2023 funding recipients, which includes Stoltze, Marks-Miller Post and Pole, Inc., located in Clancy, and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The funds are part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Managing partner of manufacturing at Stoltze, Pat Clark, said that the timber company was awarded the money after applying for the wood innovation grant with the Department of Agriculture and the US Forest Service. Clark noted that previous wood innovation grants were used primarily for research. The new funding will buy the machinery and set up a manufacturing facility for mass timber using small diameter timber.

“It allows us to add value to the current saw and timber products by turning them into engineered wood products,” Clark said.