Tahoe Forest Products is leasing nearly 40 acres of land from the Washoe Tribe of Nevada & California for a new sawmill in Carson City.
"One of the main reasons the Washoe Development Corporation liked this project, and we get presented with a lot of business opportunities, is the projects have to meet three criteria," said WDC Executive Director Wendy Loomis. "They have to help support the tribe's vision and mission statement, which is to support Mother Earth. They also have to create workforce development, and this project creates 30 entry-level jobs which we wrote preference for hiring in the contract for tribal members. And third, it has to create revenue for the tribe; this does all three."
Tahoe Forest Products hopes to get the mill up and running by the first quarter of next year. They company already has plenty of timber on hand from recent wildfires.
"Our first purchase was from Sierra-at-Tahoe Ski Resort," said Kevin Leary, Tahoe Forest Products Chairman. "They had the Caldor Fire tear through there a year ago, and so the opportunity came up this spring to partner with a couple of agencies and help get those logs out of there."
The hope is to reduce the risk of wildfires in the future.
"When you start to reduce forest density, the risk of fire decreases somewhat," Leary said. "But it also slows down the speed of fires."
The mill will focus first on bigger logs, and add equipment to process smaller ones next year. Right now the plan is to only run a single shift.
"We're certainly trying to be good neighbors, we gave a lot of thought on how we can mitigate noise and dust," said Tahoe Forest Products CEO Jonathan Shinn. "I think our plans will be well received."
A community meeting was held on Tuesday at the Indian Hills General Improvement District in Carson City. There will be an open house at The Red Barn in Carson City from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, August 30.
