A lumber mill in northern Idaho has closed down, leaving about 40 people without work.
The Lewiston Tribune reportsthat Tri-Pro Forest Products closed its Orofino mill on Tuesday. Resource Manager Mike Boeck says a lack of cedar logs forced the company to curtail operations at the Clearwater County mill over the past few weeks.
Tri-Pro had purchased 3 million to 4 million board feet of cedar in 2014 after the Johnson Bar Fire along the lower Selway River, but litigation by Friends of the Clearwater and Idaho Rivers United against the U.S. Forest Service stopped the transaction.
Boeck says that purchase could have kept the Orofino mill running for another six months.
Friends of the Clearwater and Idaho Rivers United officials say the sale was illegal.