ANDERSON, CA -  The nation's second largest lumber producer may be getting bigger. A news source reports that Sierra Pacific Industries is conducting a feasibility analysis to build a sawmill in Frederickson, WA, that could employ up to 200 people.

Mark Pawlicki, SPI Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, told The News Tribune the site in question could be as large as 270 acres. Based in Anderson, CA, SPI owns and manages nearly 1.9 million acres of timberland in California and Washington. The company has seven sawmill operations in California and three in Washington.

According to The News Tribune, SPI officials have been meeting with Pierce County economic development officials on permitting and other issues. In addition to lumber, the mill would also produce electricity for sale to power companies as well as its own use, The News Tribune reports. Timber would come from privately held local forests and land owned by the Department of Natural Resources.

In addition to its sawmill operations, SPI operations also produce moulding and millwork as well as windows and doors. The vertically integrated company also has a fabrication shop for the building of machinery, eight co-generation plants and operates a dock facility in Eureka, CA.

A third-generation, family-owned firm, SPI is certified under the Sustainable Forestry Initiative for its sustainable forest management.