Zack teaches a wood products class at the University of Montana. “It’s a pleasure to teach forestry to students sitting in the same seats I once sat in,” he says.
As a raw materials manager, Zack Miller sources logs for our three Montana mills. It’s a job that takes him hundreds of miles in all directions, including over the border into Canada, and he’s an eager ambassador for the forest industry everywhere he goes.
Zack has appeared in YouTube videos, podcasts and newspapers to talk about Montana forests to almost anyone who will listen. He explains forest management to the 1,200 fifth graders who attend the Family Forestry Expo near Columbia Falls each spring. He takes members of the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce on tours of the woods. He’s involved with a wide range of industry groups and works with forestry students at the University of Montana and Flathead Valley Community College. And he leads activities for his own kids’ classes for lessons on tree growth and forest fires.
“I love showing how it’s possible to actively manage a resource and leave it better than you found it,” Zack says. “Working forests are incredibly important. Without logs, without logging, and without the mills, there's no industry. What we do supports hundreds and hundreds of people, both directly and indirectly — including the people who supply fuel or tires and who run the grocery stores in these small towns. I get to work with great salt of the earth people here who really care about what they do.”
Zack’s passion for our industry is contagious — especially since he says this is a job he’s dreamed of doing since he was a kid. His own son also wants to work for Weyerhaeuser someday.
“I'm a big believer in doing good forestry by using responsible silvicultural practices,” Zack says. “I like to talk about where the forest is currently, where it wants to be, where it’s going, and how we can get it there. I tell folks that I want it to be easier for my own kids to buy logs someday.”
Jeremy Wilke, left, and Zack show off a portable sawmill at Montana’s Family Forestry Expo. “Jeremy is the Kalispell sawmill production supervisor and sure knows how to cut a log! Here we demonstrate how we can make flat surfaces out of a round log. I focus on the byproduct takeaway, and how very little is wasted in our manufacturing operations.”
MEET ZACK
Your title is raw material manager. Tell us what you do.
I purchase logs the mills need to run effectively. So, I’m the interface between the forest and the manufacturing side, making sure the mill has the volumes, species and log sorts they need. Those include peeler logs for our Kalispell plywood mill and stud logs for our Kalispell lumber mill, as well as small diameter logs for our medium-density fiberboard mill in Columbia Falls. I purchase logs from multiple landowners, including industrial private owners, Montana’s Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and non-industrial private forests. I cover a wide area, so I need an understanding of all those different forest ownerships and how they work.
What led you to choose this job?
I worked for a builder through high school and part of college, so I got to know wood products. After that I worked as a contract timber cruiser and firefighter, and then I laid out timber sales for the Montana DNRC. But I was really intrigued by what happens when a log gets loaded onto a truck and the process of converting round wood into a square product. I joined Weyerhaeuser in 2017, and I’m now buying logs from some of the same timber sales I laid out for the DNRC.
Students make the connection between logs and lumber at the Family Forestry Expo.
Tell us what your day is like.
Right now, I spend about half of my time in the office and the other half in the woods. But with mobile Starlink, I’m hoping my time in the woods will shift to 60 or 70 percent, because I’ll be able to take calls from almost any ridge top. I’ll still need to assess timber sale bids, write contracts and take care of other duties in the office, but it'll make things so much easier to be able to make phone calls from the field.
What’s your favorite part of your job?
Gosh, there are so many! I like working with logging contractors to overcome challenges. I really enjoy that partnership; we rely on them, and they rely on us. But it's hard to beat a good day in the woods assessing timber sales. If I’m not going to be working around equipment, I take one of my dogs with me. We’re in grizzly bear country, so the dogs are handy for that.
You must have some challenges. What are they?
Challenging markets. It’s hard to balance the need to source the right log for the mills while maintaining an infrastructure of suppliers, especially since inflation has really changed the way contractors have to work.
I also need to work in all sorts of conditions. Last winter, we hit -36 degrees Fahrenheit. It can be physically tough to source logs with weather like that!
Zack and his sons.
Tell us something about your job that might surprise people.
I think people are surprised by the sheer scale of what I do. I work with one other person, Jacob Parent, and together, we source over half a million tons of logs a year. That’s a lot of wood.
What advice would you give people who want a job like yours?
Follow your heart and follow your dreams, because I know I did. Ask questions, dig a little deeper. Forestry is great and there are so many aspects of it you can go into. It’s also important to appreciate silviculture, because it all goes down to plants. So be well-rounded, because you need to understand botany, harvesting and operations.
Zack loves the outdoors, saying "Montana's definitely the place for me."
When you were young, what did you want to do?
This! I grew up in Connecticut. When I was about 8 or 9 years old, they began logging our neighbor's property. I loved to sit on the stone wall and watch. Eventually the crew invited me to help cut a tree, and even ride in the skidder. It was a dream come true. Through that, I learned the impact of influencing people by giving them the opportunity to learn about this industry. Those loggers did it for me, so I try to do the same for everyone I interact with.
I’ve always wanted to be in the woods because I love big places and wild experiences. I love to hunt, fish, hike and play in the mountains. Montana’s definitely the place for me.
