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# Diesel Up 72 Percent, Revenue Down 18: Why a Clancy Sawmill Is Shutting Its Saws
- URL: https://the-montana-statesman.ghost.io/marks-lumber-clancy-mill-closing/
- Published: 2026-10-31T13:50:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-31T13:49:59.000Z
- Description: Marks Lumber in Clancy stops sawing Nov. 6 after 37 years. Owner Steve Marks cites fuel costs, falling revenue and a stalled timber sale.
- Author: Montana Statesman Staff
- Tags: Montana Business, Business, Montana, Manufacturing, Profiles

Steve Marks says closing his family's sawmill came down to numbers. Diesel, he told reporters, has risen 72 percent to about $6.30 a gallon. The company's revenue has dropped 18 percent since 2023\. On Nov. 6, after 37 years, the saws at Marks Lumber off Lump Gulch Road in Clancy will stop.

[The Montana Statesman covered the closure](https://montanastatesman.com/marks-lumber-clancy-closing/?ref=the-montana-statesman.ghost.io) and the family history behind it. Here is the business side of the decision.

## The timeline

- **Oct. 5:** Marks, 67, posted the news on the company website.
- **Oct. 20:** the mill stopped taking special-cut orders.
- **Nov. 6:** last day of sawing.
- **Into 2027:** the yard at 30 Lump Gulch Road keeps selling remaining lumber.

## What the mill was

The Marks family traces its presence in Jefferson County to Ernest Marks in the 1880s. Merle Marks set up a sawmill in 1938\. Steve started Marks Logging in 1978, and the mill went full time in 1989, the year the family counts from. A new mill was installed in 2000, an office and showroom in 2008, and the business, long called Marks Ranch & Lumber, incorporated as Marks Lumber in 2014.

In a typical year it handled about 1.5 million board feet of logs, roughly 600 truckloads, and filled custom orders beside its regular stock. Staffing peaked at 23 or 24\. It had 14 this fall and will fall to about four while inventory sells.

## Costs, revenue and logs

Marks laid out the squeeze in interviews with [KTVH](https://www.ktvh.com/?ref=the-montana-statesman.ghost.io) and the Jefferson County Monitor: fuel up sharply, sales down. Log supply adds a third pressure. The Monitor noted that the Larabee Hat timber sale, which regional mills had been counting on, is tied up in a lawsuit. A small mill without a steady flow of nearby logs must either pay to haul from farther away or run short.

State Reps. Becky Beard of House District 38 and Mark Reinschmidt of House District 75 both spoke publicly about the closure and the strain on Montana's wood products industry.

## A familiar list

Larger Montana mills have closed before it, among them Roseburg in Missoula, UFP Edge in Bonner and Pyramid Mountain Lumber in Seeley Lake. The Montana Wood Products Association counts more than 30 closures since the 1990s.

The losses reach past payroll. Mills buy from family logging crews, keep truckers working, and supply ranchers and builders with fence posts, beams and odd sizes that big-box stores do not stock. Helena valley customers who relied on Marks for custom cuts will need to look elsewhere.

## What remains

Marks-Miller Post & Pole, run by Steve's brother Gary, is a separate company and is staying open. Buyers interested in the mill's last cuts can reach the company through [its website](https://markslumber.us/?ref=the-montana-statesman.ghost.io).

*Originally reported by The Montana Statesman. Read the full story:* [*Marks Lumber in Clancy will stop sawing Nov. 6 after 37 years*](https://montanastatesman.com/marks-lumber-clancy-closing/?ref=the-montana-statesman.ghost.io)*.*

## Sources

- [Marks Lumber](https://markslumber.us/?ref=the-montana-statesman.ghost.io)
- [KTVH](https://www.ktvh.com/?ref=the-montana-statesman.ghost.io)