One hundred people will lose their jobs at St. Helens, Ore. where Boise Inc. is shutting down the company's one remaining paper-producing machine at a plant it shares with another company.

Boise Inc. decided to stop production because of declining demand, high fiber costs and the age of the machinery, which began operating in 1928.

St. Helens is 28 miles north of Portland. The St. Helens plant made paper used for food protection and printing.

Production is expected to stop at the end of the year.

"This is a difficult but necessary decision to focus our efforts and resources on the products and machines elsewhere in our system that drive the financial performance and cash flow of our paper operations," said Alexander Toeldte, Boise Inc.'s president and chief executive officer.

The Boise-based paper and packaging company has no paper mills in Idaho.

Only one paper producing machine is left at the St. Helens mill, and it is owned by Cascades Tissue Group, which markets environmentally sensitive paper products.

Bill Roberts: 377-6408