Steam hissed into the drying kilns at the brand-new Collins Upper Columbia Mill near Boardman, Oregon, this month. Next month, when the kilns are running smoothly, the mill will start drying more than half a million board feet of rough-cut lumber grown on a plantation right next door. Before long, you may see the pale, light-weight wood in picture frames, Venetian blind slats, moldings, shipping pallets, the interior woodwork in RVs, and the lumber used to build movie sets. If you want a light-colored hardwood for a cabinet project, you may take it home as edge-glued “hobby panels” from your local Lowe’s or Home Depot. The pale wood is “Pacific albus.”

Never heard of it? Neither has anyone else. It’s a made-up name, incorporating the Latin for the common poplar, that fast-growing, energetically suckering tree you see standing in tall rows along the edges of rural roads and prairie farmyards. Poplar isn’t a traditional source of lumber. But the Portland-based Collins Companies have already started milling it there beside the Columbia River. You don’t need big Douglas fir to get wood fiber. [more]

Year in Review

It's been quite a year in the New West news business, what with the historic presidential election, the economic meltdown, the real estate slump, the boom and bust in energy and other commodities, and all the long-running hot-button issues like wolf management, guns, land-use regulation and food and agriculture. Most of these big stories are carrying over in force into the new year, so we thought we'd combine a look back with a look forward, along with a few predictions. [more]

Real Estate

Housing prices across the country dropped by a record 18% in October over the year-earlier period, according to the widely watched Case-Shiller housing index, a grim indication that the real estate meltdown is far from over. But there were some glimmers of hope for the Rocky Mountain West and the Pacific Northwest.

The Case-Shiller iIndex tracks only the top 20 metropolitan areas, so most of the Mountain West is completely off the map. But Denver posted a decline of just 5.2%, the second-best performance (behind Dallas) of any city in the index. Seattle and Portland both saw declines of about 10% - hardly good news in most circumstances but encouraging next to the 31% declines in Las Vegas and San Francisco and the 32.7% freefall in Phoenix.

The housing slump started later in the Northern Rockies and the Pacific Northwest than it did elsewhere, with prices peaking in 2007 rather than late 2005 or early 2006. Some economists see that as an indication that the downtown will be shorter and shallower here than elsewhere.

Yellowstone Club Fallout

If you've been following the Yellowstone Club bankruptcy, you've heard a fair amount of talk about a huge estate near Palm Springs called Porcupine Creek. Featuring a 30,000 square foot house and a private championship golf course, the residence belonged to Yellowstone Club founders Tim & Edra Blixseth, and went to Edra as part of the couple's bitter divorce settlement. But Edra, who also gained ownership of the Yellowstone Club only to see it fall into bankruptcy almost immediately, apparently doesn't have much cash on hand: employees at Porcupine Creek haven't been paid in many weeks, and this week were sent home, according to KESQ television in Palm Springs. You can check out the report, which features a brief cameo from yours truly, here (look under "top news videos").

A $35 million loan against Porcupine Creek, extended to Edra Blixseth by Sam Byrne and CrossHarbour Capital (who are now funding the Yellowstone Club through the bankruptcy process), is currently in default, though no forclosure proceedings have begun.

Alternative Energy

The 82-acre Alamosa solar plant in the San Luis Valley is proving to be the nation's most productive commercial photovoltaic facility, and is helping to prove the viability of the technology, reports Steve Raabe of the Denver Post. The Xcel Energy plant is helping the utility meet state mandates for renewable energy, the Post reports, and renewables are costing consumers about 2% more on their power bills. The plant producers enough power for 1652 homes - still pretty small by commercial electricity standards - and will likely soon be surpassed by larger plants in Nevada and elsewhere.

Montana Real Estate

Imagine bidding on a home cash-in-hand, site-unseen on the steps of the Flathead County courthouse. The competition is likely the lender that foreclosed on the property. But, if you win, you may score your dream home for a fraction of its worth – or inherit a financial nightmare.

For some, this idea isn’t too farfetched: In the last year, the number of foreclosures in Flathead County has increased five-fold, causing more people to consider buying foreclosed properties. Local real estate and title professionals say such investments can yield big rewards, but caution that they aren’t for the uneducated.

“There’s a need for buyers, as well as those going through a foreclosure or short sale, to better understand the process,” Kristi Bruyer, Realtor for Chuck Olson Real Estate, said. “There’s the misconception that it’s always the best deal.”

Last week, Bruyer gathered a group of local professionals, including Jane Foley, a vice president for Glacier Bank, Chris Ohler and Kate Lodgsdon of Insured Title and Paul Clark, principal of Whisper Creek Log Homes, for a free public seminar on the process of foreclosures, short sales and changing trends in the local housing market.

[more]

Lawmakers, resorts, non-profits -- they're all feeling the national economic pinch at home in Colorado. This week, public radio station KUNC looked a several aspects of the downturn's effects in the state.

Today, the story is about ski resorts reporting dismal advanced bookings and sluggish ticket sales overall. Their solution? Cut skiers huge deals.

[more]

If you're interested in consumer behavior, here's something you'll want to know: Montanans are gloomier about the economy than any time in the last 15 years, a new University of Montana report says.

"Consumer confidence indexes are exactly what they say they are," explained Patrick Barkey of the UM's Bureau of Business and Economic Research. "They ask people how they feel."

The telephone survey used to make the Montana Index of Consumer Sentiment uses five basic questions about individual situations and perceptions about the state and national economies, which are put to a representative sampling of 424 adults across the state. The survey is comparable to other indexes, like the University of Michigan's U.S. index. [more]

This is the way we tidy up....

Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath sued Stimson Lumber Co. on Wednesday to force the removal of a berm, a wastewater pond and some old wooden structures at the defunct mill site near the mouth of the Blackfoot River.

The berm, pond, wood pilings and old foundations are dangerous and in immediate danger of collapse, the suit says. If the berm fails, Blackfoot River waters could wash toxic metals downstream. [more]

President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet picks for the Departments of Agriculture and Interior will have big implications in the West.

Obama himself today called former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack (agriculture) and Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar (interior) "guardians" of the nation's land -- land we're sort of attached to here in Rockies.

Today, there's much abuzz across the Web about the picks, so here is a lineup of some of the most interesting and timely information and commentary about the region's new "land lords."
[more]