Possible Rough & Ready closure may bring rough times to I.V.
After 80 years of being a pillar of the community, Rough & Ready faces hard decisions about its future as well as the valleys
By SAM NEWTON
“The decision to discon-
tinue operating Rough &
Ready is the most difficult
decision that we have ever had
to make,” said Fred and John
Krauss, co-owners of Rough
& Ready Lumber Co. in Cave
Junction.
After 80 years of having a
collective, family operated
business (21 years at the origi-
nal Deer Creek site in Selma
and 59 years at the present
site) Rough & Ready Lumber
Co. (the last remaining saw-
mill in Josephine County), the
co-owners have decided that
they are done “fighting the
good fight.”
If Rough & Ready closes,
approximately 145 jobs will
be terminated, and loss of an
annual payroll of $5 million
will be the result.
On Wednesday afternoon,
Dec. 4, during a meeting with
Rough & Ready employees at
the mill, the Krausses an-
nounced that they will attempt
to sell their sawmill facility
within the next 30 to 45 days.
If the sale is not successful,
they will begin liquidating the
sawmill inventory and close in
spring 2003.
The possible closure, the
loss of jobs and the revenue
generated by the jobs not only
has mill employees saddened
and stunned, but also mer-
chants throughout the valley.
“It’s devastating,” said
Jessica Krska, manager of
Shop Smart Food Warehouse
in Cave Junction.
“Not just to the busi-
nesses, but to the employees
and their families who work
for the mill,” she said.
“It’s just terrible,” noted
Krska. “I don’t think people
realize yet how this will affect
them and the valley in general.
“Rough & Ready pays
their employees very well. It’s
going to be impossible to find
anything like that around
here,” said Krska.
Liz Paulsen, co-owner of
Dave’s Outdoor Power and
Equipment said, “What I felt
when I first heard the news
was fear. Losing what busi-
ness we get from the mill will
not have an impressive effect
on our business, but to lose
the 145 families’ business
who shop with us is frighten-
ing,” she said.
Blaming the failure of
President Clinton’s Northwest
Forest Plan (established dur-
Jump down
turn ‘round
pick a bale
of nickel
By SAM NEWTON
You can’t get blood from
a turnip; but you can get
nickel from alyssum.
Murale (dark green) and
Corsicum (silver gray) alys-
sum seeds have been sown as
part of an experimental en-
deavor to extract nickel from
the serpentine soil on Rough
& Ready Flat, 6 miles south of
Cave Junction.
The project, co-sponsored
by Viridian Resources, of
Houston, Texas; and Oregon
State University (OSU), of
Corvallis, consists of two ar-
eas, one south of the new in-
dustrial park off Airport Drive
and the other west of Illinois
Valley Airport, between the
airstrip and Redwood Hwy.
Mark Wiest, western field
manager for Viridian, along
with youth from Illinois Val-
ley and Grants Pass commu-
nity service, have been work-
ing down to the wire to get the
areas planted before the rainy
season arrives.
Meeting with county com-
missioners and the public, and
going through all the proper
channels, Viridian and OSU
have leased 100 acres of
county property, but have cho-
sen to plant only 70.
“We wanted to leave a
buffer between Hwy. 199 in
some areas and also the
Rough & Ready Botanical
Wayside,” he said. “We pur-
posely used only the 70 acres
just to play it safe,” said Wi-
est.
Harvest of the alyssum
will occur in July and August
of 2003 before the alyssum
blooms. “If the alyssum is
allowed to bloom we would
take a big loss,” said Wiest.
“The first stage of har-
vesting is much like harvest-
ing hay,” said Wiest. “We’ll
(Continued on page 8)
ing Clinton’s in 1994), and
successful litigation against
federal timber sales by envi-
ronmental groups, the
Krausses claim that an unsub-
stantial amount of timber has
been sold since the mid-’90s.
“This is just another ex-
ample of the chipping away of
the strength of our nation,”
said Paul Dillon, co-owner of
Dillon’s Nursery and Garden
Center in Cave Junction.
The Krausses also state
that they are under the under-
standing that even though
more than 1 billion board feet
of timber was burnt outside
the Kalmiopsis Wilderness
area during the Biscuit Fire,
that only after a long planning
and legal process will a small
amount of timber be sold.
“By that time, the wood
will have little or no economic
value,” said the Krausses.
“At a time when the state
of Oregon is in desperate need
for economic stimulus, it is
not only appalling to miss this
opportunity to harvest dead
trees, but makes us certain that
we cannot count on the har-
vest of green timber in the
future,” they said.
Rough & Ready has been
actively working with the Job
Council, Oregon Employment
Dept., and other agencies to
help mill employees through
the transition and to help them
find new employment.
“It’s a sad and difficult
time for all of us,” said Carol
Mayfield, a longtime Rough
& Ready office employee.
Historic Kerbyville slated
for authentic 1880s style
theme park development
SANTA ON PARADE - The 12th annual Illinois Valley Chamber of Commerce Christmas Pa-
rade was a success despite the cold weather. Much to every ones delight, Santa arrived in
style courtesy of the Illinois Valley Fire District.
(Photo by Kathy Young)
BIG BOYS ON LITTLE TOYS - The I.V. Bikers held their 20th annual Toy Run on Saturday, Dec.
7 throughout Illinois Valley to provide toys for those who might not have a toy under the
Christmas tree this year.
(Photo by Kathy Young)
(Related photos on page 8)
I.V. Chamber Christmas parade winners
The foggy weather didn’t
keep the holiday spirits of the
12th Annual Chamber of
Commerce Christmas Parade
participants and spectators
down on Saturday, Dec. 7.
Approximately 18 parade
entries marched through
Downtown Cave Junction
while judges Becky Newstead,
Sonny Moore, and Rachel
Bennett undertook the daunt-
ing task of choosing their fa-
vorites in nine categories.
Winners in each category
are as follows:
*Grand Marshal (Best of
all) - I.V. Bikers Toy Run.
*Children - Honeybee
Kids.
*Car - None.
*Truck - None.
*Music - IVHS/Lorna
Byrne Middle School Band.
*Schools - ROTC.
*Animals - Sheriff Dave
Daniel and his mounted posse.
*Church, Organization or
Business - I.V. Lions Club
Train.
By ELNO STINT
Two Illinois Valley men
are hatching a plot for the his-
toric town of Kerbyville.
In fact, as financing, time
and resources allow develop-
ment, Kerbyville, or a reason-
able facsimile, will rise again -
- using the original town plot
plan -- obtained from Kerby-
ville Museum, located across
Redwood Hwy. in Kerby.
Roadways, with material re-
sembling brick, will be in-
cluded, with angled parking.
In keeping with the theme
of early day authenticity, neon
signs will not be allowed. ‘We
want it to be authentic,” said
Bill Pfohl, “and we don’t want
it to look like a strip mall.”
Partners Bob Stellflug and
Pfohl see their plan to estab-
lish somewhat of an 1850-
1880’s theme park, akin to
Old Sacramento or the city of
Jacksonville, near Medford, to
result in a significant visitor
attraction for Illinois Valley.
It will feature, they plan, a
wide range of Illinois Valley
artists and craftsmen with
shops, galleries and displays,
including work in progress. In
the latter category, they’re
looking toward crafts such as
glass-blowing and blacksmith-
ing. Restaurants and an RV
park also are on their agenda.
One of the main assets to
the development of this pro-
ject is that First Love Fellow-
ship (currently located in Suite
A, 139 Caves Avenue in Cave
Junction) plans on building an
1880s style church at the loca-
tion.
And they’d like to include
valley wineries as well. In
addition, they have an idea for
possible ethnic food areas.
“We’re looking for good
ambience,” said Pfohl, “the
sort of major, nice attraction
that will make people stop.”
The partners also plan a large
parking area, besides angled
parking, in the development
itself.
They’re purchasing the
65-acre site, which runs from
Redwood Hwy. to Illinois
River and a bit beyond, from
California resident Hank
Westbrook. The site is the
former location of Cabax Mill.
The partners, who began pay-
ing for the site in September
2001, plan the development
operating as Kerbyville Indus-
trial Center LLC.
A certain amount of site
work is under way, including
erecting a new facility for
Kauffman Wood Products,
severely damaged by fire a
few months ago. Stellflug,
who operates his own con-
struction company; and Pfohl,
who operates Q-Bar-X Ranch,
plan to utilize pre-cast con-
crete walls for construction.
The walls will be cast on-site,
and then tilted into position
for various buildings. Store-
front facades, similar to Jack-
sonville or perhaps Ferndale,
Calif., will complete each
structure, to resemble a build-
ing from the 1800’s.
The first order of busi-
ness, depending on resources,
will involve a 6- to 8-acre RV
park with a pond near the
river, said Pfohl. This will
(Continued on page 8)
Holiday ‘Noose’ deadlines
Absolute deadlines for Dec. 25 and Jan. 1
are Friday, Dec. 20 and 27 at 5 p.m.
Newspapers will be printed and on stands
Monday, Dec. 23 and 30.