Home Careers Products History Contact Photo Gallery An Employee Owned Company! 1-800-305-2577 ABOUT In 1943 the current site of Buse Timber & Sales was purchased by two brothers, Delmer and Norm Buse. In 1946, the Buses borrowed money and purchased a portable sawmill as well as a surplus GI Flatbed and some Snohomish County second growth forestland near Lake Martha. The brothers would log Douglas Fir for two or three days and spend the remainder of the week cutting lumber while their wives handled product sales. At this time the Buses were producing about 2,000 board feet of lumber per day. A new mill was built in 1949, equipped with a permanent circle saw head rig and carriage, edger, resaw and hand trim saw. The new mill enabled the Buses to increase production by 10,000 board feet per shift in just one year. In 1953 a new planer was constructed and the Buses began to sell directly to lumber yards instead of just cutting for remanufacturing plants. Production increased yet again with the addition of a gang saw in 1955, and Hemlock started to be processed along with Douglas Fir and Red Cedar. 1957 saw the installation of the first dry kilns and a dry shed for Hem-Fir dimension lumber and as a result Buse became a leader in opening up the local market to dry Hem-Fir product. This eventful decade ended with the construction of a new state-of-the-art sawmill in 1959. Completely electric and push-button-controlled, the third Buse mill exceeded its design specifications almost from the start. It is the same mill that stands today. Buse Timber and Sales adapted to the efficient technology of the current sawmill industry using an accurate computer system that can be programmed to cut an infinite variety of timbers and other specialty products. Production has steadily increased over the years and the mill continues to supply the local region as well as national and international markets with top-quality forest products. In 2004, the Buse family sold the mill to its 129 employees through an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP. While the Buse family had considered other buyers, employee ownership was the best way to protect the character of the company and its commitment to the local community. © 2018 by Buse Timber & Sales, Inc.