IFG’s Laclede mill celebrates 50 years

LACLEDE – The sky was clear blue without a cloud in sight. Temperatures stayed in the comfortable 70s. The food was delicious and spirits were high. Idaho Forest Group celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Laclede lumber mill Friday.

The current sawmill facility was built by Brand S Corporation and started operations in September 1976. Riley Creek Lumber Company began when Marc Brinkmeyer, one of the day’s speakers, purchased the mill in the fall of 1981. A short four years later was a difficult year in the timber industry and Riley Creek filed chapter 11 in the fall of 1985. Early in 1987, the mill came out of chapter 11 and continued improvements and upgrades to equipment and technology.

In 2000, the sawmill was updated with a new primary break down system and log bucking line. In 2003, the LP acquired the Moyie Springs, Sandpoint and Chilco facilities, and 2008 marked the purchase of the JD Lumber facility in Priest River and the merger with Bennett Forest Industries, creating Idaho Forest Group.

The company then purchased the Lewiston facility in 2012 as well as the stud mill in St. Regis, Montana, in 2017, and the Athol finger joint plant in 2018. The company also built a new mill facility in Lumberton, Mississippi, starting up in 2022.

The growth of the company in the last 25 years has been extraordinary. Idaho Forest Group facilities are now producing more than 1 billion board feet of lumber annually, placing it in the top 10 lumber producers in the nation.

“And to think it all started in this small town,” said Tommy Groff, director of mill operations. “This facility has been running longer than any other mill in Laclede, a town with timber history going back more than 120 years.”