MISSOULA, Mont. — About a year after the most recent announcement of a Montana sawmill closure, state lawmakers passed a bill creating a low-interest loan program for companies reopening a mill in an effort to boost Montana’s economy and forest health. Missoula County’s two largest wood products facilities — Pyramid Mountain Lumber in Seeley Lake and Roseburg Forest Products in Missoula — announced in March 2024 plans to close, affecting about 250 employees. The Missoula Economic Partnership has worked to find a company to take over the former Pyramid Mountain Lumber sawmill for more than a year, said Grant Kier, the partnership’s president and CEO. The economic development organization supported House Bill 876 as a “piece of the puzzle, not the whole solution,” said Kier. …HB 876, also known as the Sawmill Revitalization Act, sets aside $6 million for loans administered by the state Board of Investments.