Weyerhaeuser

I. BACKGROUND

The forests west of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon and Washington contain sufficient hardwood to support the only concentration of hardwood sawmills in the western United States. These mills are part of what is often called the “alder industry” after the area’s predominant hardwood species, which accounts for 95% of the annual Pacific Northwest hard- wood lumber production. The three principal players in the alder portion of the hardwood industry are: (1) timberland owners and loggers who supply alder sawlogs; (2) production facilities, including sawmills, that buy sawlogs and process them into finished alder lumber; and (3) purchasers who buy hardwood lumber from production facilities. Both parties in this case fall under the second category: they operate saw- mills.

The plaintiff-appellee, Ross-Simmons Hardwood Lumber Company, was a pioneer in the alder lumber business, starting in 1962. It operated its mill in Longview, Washington contin- uously until it went out of business in 2001. From 1990 to 1997, Ross-Simmons experienced modest prosperity, but from 1998 to 2001, its production declined. From 1998 to 2001, sawlog prices increased while finished lumber…