TUOLUMNE COUNTY, CA - The owners of a Sonora sawmill that closed down one year ago announced plans Tuesday to reopen the retooled plant in 2011.

When the mill owned by Sierra Pacific Industries closed its doors in August, 2009, due to weak lumber demand, smaller harvests, and greater regulatory costs, approximately 130 employees lost their jobs. By updating the mill to accept logs of more sizes to diversify its market, SPI area manager Ryan Land said the plan is to hire about the same number of workers.

Retooling the facility, which first started operations in 1901, is expected to begin in mid-July with reopening scheduled for May 2011, Land said.

"We are investing in the future of this community," Land said in a prepared statement. "Lumber markets have improved modestly and by increasing the range of acceptable log sizes we will be able to bring family-wage jobs back to this area."

Anderson, California-based Sierra Pacific Industries owns and manages nearly 1.9 million acres of timber in California and Washington, making it the second largest lumber producer in the U.S.