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Sun Mountain Lumber, Deer Lodge, Mt., has completed its acquisition of R-Y Timber, Livingston, Mt., from Linda Yanke and her son-in-law, Bryan Norby.
Her late husband, Ron Yanke, formed RY, using his own initials, after purchasing Sequoia Forest Industries, Townsend, Mt., from Wickes in the early 1980s, and added the Livingston facility in 1996. Sun Mountain intends to keep the RY name, at least for the short term, to honor Yanke.
Sun Mountain hired sawmill veteran Dee Brown to be the new operations manager in Livingston.
R-Y Timber has endured several challenges this last year, with both its planer and sawmill suffering damage due to fires. In July, R-Y’s substation took a direct hit from a lightning strike, which further delayed getting the plant fully operational. Since then, the planer has been rebuilt and repairs are nearing completion on the sawmill.
The acquisition was anticipated to close Aug. 1, but was not finalized until Oct. 31.
Sun Mountain reportedly operates the largest sawmill in Montana and the largest fingerjoint plant in North America.
