PLUM CREEK ANNOUNCES MDF SHIFT REDUCTION

COLUMBIA FALLS, Mont.--Sept. 11, 2008--Faced with a flat housing market and declining demand for wood products, Plum Creek will reduce the number of rotating shifts at its Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) plant in Columbia Falls, from four to three. This will affect approximately 35 positions. However, employees will have the opportunity to apply for jobs at other Plum Creek facilities in the Flathead Valley. Currently 185 production employees work at MDF.

Employees have been informed of the change, which will go into effect on September 29.

“What happens in the national economy affects our business in Montana,” said Hank Ricklefs, vice president for Northern Resources and Manufacturing. “News about the housing market continues to be gloomy and these market conditions have a direct impact on demand for our wood products. This change in the shift schedule will allow us to operate more efficiently until the market improves and we are then able to step up production.”

Employees who do not secure another position within Plum Creek will receive severance benefits.

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Plum Creek is the largest and most geographically diverse private landowner in the nation with approximately 8 million acres of timberlands in major timber producing regions of the United States and 10 wood products manufacturing facilities in the Northwest. The company owns and manages more than 1.2 million acres of forestland in Montana, and has committed over 600,000 acres of land to conservation in the state since 2000.  For more information, visit www.plumcreek.com.