FORMER PLUM CREEK WORKERS GET FEDERAL BENEFITS

Columbia Falls, Mont.--August 26, 2009--Former employees at Plum Creek’s Columbia Falls sawmill are now qualified to receive additional training and other assistance from a federal government program that helps manufacturing workers whose jobs were affected by foreign trade.

The U.S. Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program eligibility makes job search, relocation, wage assistance, health care tax credits and training available to 29 former Plum Creek employees who lost their jobs last June when the company reduced its workforce at the mill. This certification, which covers all Columbia Falls sawmill employees, is valid for three years. Several other Plum Creek manufacturing facilities that experienced downsizing also qualified for TAA certification.

Plum Creek worked with U.S. Sen. Max Baucus’ staff to obtain TAA certification to help its former employees transition to other jobs. In addition to the TAA benefits, displaced workers received severance payments and outplacement assistance from Plum Creek.

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Plum Creek is the largest and most geographically diverse private landowner in the nation with approximately 7 million acres of timberlands in major timber producing regions of the United States and wood products manufacturing facilities in the Northwest. In Montana, Plum Creek practices sustainable forestry on approximately 1 million acres throughout the western part of the state.  For more information on Plum Creek in Montana, visit www.plumcreek.com/montana.