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Show Sawmill Looks At June To Reopen Operations ESCALANTE Resource Manager Sheldon Steed said this week that Escalante Sawmills will be unable to reopen this month as had been hoped and the company is now looking at June for an opening date. Steed said the decision is based upon financial factors and upon wet and muddy terrain resulting from recent re-cent heavier-than-usual snow and rain. "Back in November we were seriously se-riously looking at March for reopening," re-opening," Steed said, "but there is still a substantial amount of snow where we need to harvest." Financial arrangements by the sawmill's parent company Allied Forest Products of Portland, Ore. are also lagging behind, Steed said. "We're trying to be optimistic," he said. "With almost a year of timber under contract and three sales ready to go, we hope to start logging log-ging in mid-May." Steed said that the company regrets re-grets the impact on the community by the mill's closure. He noted that several families have found it nec- essary to move away to take up jobs elsewhere because they were unable to wait any longer with unemployment checks depleted. Others, he said, are still waiting for the company's announcement of a reopening, especially with the job market so tight everywhere. The company regularly employs some 90 people and affects other private contractors, Steed said. "We're focusing hard on putting together a workable solution to get up and running as soon as possible," possi-ble," Steed concluded. |