R&R at ‘first year’
By CHRISTINA HILL
Correspondent
Illinois Valley is
framed by a seemingly
endless quantity of trees.
To most, a shortage of
timber would appear
highly unlikely, but it’s
exactly what caused Rough
& Ready Lumber Co. to
close for a few months last
year.
‘We hope to continue
to be part of the
community for
a long time.’
- Link Phillippi -
The family owned
business, which is known
for being a superior cutting
mill, specializes in quality
-- not quantity. Most of the
cuts are made especially
for doors and windows.
This June marks the
one-year anniversary that
the mill has been reopened
after having to close last
March due to the lack of
timber sales.
“About 80 percent of
the valley is owned by the
federal government,” said
Jennifer Phillippi, Rough
& Ready co-manager. “It’s
kind of tough because it
has all this land, but is not
providing harvest sales,”
she said. “Whenever the
government tries to sell it,
it gets protested.”
Jennifer and her hus-
band, Lincoln, better
known as “Link,” took
over management of the
mill last year. Her father,
Lew Krauss, is one of the
co-owners of the mill, and
family ties run deep.
“My grandparents
started the mill in 1922,”
said Jennifer, “I’ve been
working here since I was
7.”
After decades of being
family owned and oper-
ated, the mill was put up
for sale last year. The de-
clining timber availability
had taken its toll. The busi-
ness was never sold, but it
did receive an offer that
the principals couldn’t turn
down.
“The timber supply
issue was a problem, and
we didn’t see how we
could overcome it,” said
Jennifer. “So we decided
to try and sell the com-
pany. One of the compa-
nies that we thought might
be interested in buying it
came to us and said, ‘We’ll
give you a log supply con-
tract’,” said Jennifer, “so
now we have a three-year
contract for logs.”
After some very tense
months, the mill was fi-
nally up and running again.
“There were a lot of
months when these guys
didn’t know if they’d have
a job or what the future
would hold,” Jennifer said.
“At one time we had 225
employees, and now we’re
down to 80, but everyone
landed on their feet. They
either came back or were
given a severance pack-
age.”
The severance pack-
age, which Rough &
Ready received as part of a
private grant, gave those
who found themselves
without a job two years of
paid college retraining
education, health benefits
and much more.
“The log supply,” said
“Link,” “is always a chal-
lenge. It always has been
and always will be.
“The crew here is a
great bunch of people. We
all have to adapt and be
ready for the challenges
that lie ahead.
“We’ve been part of
this community for a long
time, and we hope to keep
it that way,” he concluded.
R&R Biscuit salvage logging comment on page 10
IVHS CLASS OF 2004 FUTURE BOUND - Under a
sunny sky on Thursday, June 3, 79 seniors graduated
from Illinois Valley High School in a 75-minute outdoor
ceremony. Salutatorians Alice Weber and Kelsi Snook
(left photo) urged fellow graduates to take life by the
horns, and to be kind and helpful. Valedictorian Tess
Anawalt told her classmates that ‘it’s not what you
take that counts, but what you give.’ Music was pro-
vided by a combined IVHS and Lorna Byrne Middle
School band directed by T. Lund. Guest speaker, re-
tired IVHS teacher Wayne Dudley, emphasized that the
class is comprised of ‘a nice group of kids, great to be
around.’ Guest speaker was teacher Steve Morgan,
who shared many fond memories of the past year.
Noncompetitive kids’ fishing at Selmac Sunday
Free Family Fishing
Day will be held at Lake
Selmac on Sunday, June
13, replacing the Kids
Fishing Derby, and will
not be a competition.
The lake will be
stocked prior to the event,
which is scheduled to run
from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Check-in will be in front of
the picnic area near the
ranger’s house on Reeves
Creek Road.
Families are urged by
Josephine County Parks
Dept. to come to Lake Sel-
mac and “experience
healthy family recreation.”
Fishing rods and reels
will be provided to youth
who do not have their own.
Several fishermen’s groups
will provide assistance to
those in need.
It should be under-
stood, said the parks de-
partment, that this event is
not a competition.
There will be no meas-
uring of fish, and no
prizes.
The Free Family Fish-
ing Day is a joint effort
with the U.S. Forest Ser-
vice, Oregon Fish & Wild-
life Dept., Selma Commu-
nity Center, All-Sports,
Northwest Steelheaders
Association Rogue Valley
Chapter, and Josephine
County Parks “all working
together to offer a family,
fun-filled day.”
Valley group urges respect by all about Biscuit
(From left) ‘Link’ Phillippi, Lew Krauss, Jennifer Phil-
lippi and Joe Krauss of R&R at celebration last week.
Fire season under way by ODF
Open burning of debris
outdoors became prohib-
ited as of Friday, June 4
with the start of fire sea-
son, said Oregon Dept. of
Forestry.
Burn barrels can be
allowed with specific re-
strictions. For information,
phone Illinois Valley Fire
District’s information line,
592-1121.
By MICHELLE BINKER
Staff Writer
The nation’s largest
and most costly wildfire of
2002 has generated a veri-
table firestorm of contro-
versy and concern for Illi-
nois Valley residents.
Community leaders
feel that the much-
anticipated release of the
U.S. Forest Service’s Final
Environmental Impact
Statement on the Biscuit
Fire burn area might rekin-
dle the furor.
A group of eight busi-
ness and community lead-
ers representing a broad
spectrum of views on the
planned salvage harvest
and recovery effort met
Monday, May 26 to dis-
cuss the potential effects of
imminent protest activity.
The result of their dia-
logue was to craft and is-
sue a welcoming statement
to any who engage in dis-
course on the Biscuit Fire
in the coming months. The
statement reads:
“To those visiting our
community because of the
Forest Service’s proposed
actions on the Biscuit burn
area:
“Welcome to our com-
munity. While we respect
your right to express your
views on the Biscuit Fire
final Environmental Im-
pact Statement and Re-
cords of Decision, we urge
you to do so peacefully
and in a way that respects
the property and all the
people of the Illinois Val-
ley.
“We lived through the
Biscuit and we will be here
once you have returned
home.
“Although we don’t
always agree on natural
resource issues, we are
learning as a community to
disagree respectfully and
to find solutions we can
support. Loggers, mill
workers, forest service
staff, environmentalists
and concerned citizens are
all neighbors; each repre-
sent pieces of the patch-
work quilt that is the fabric
of our community.
“Do express yourself
while you are here, but
please do not interrupt the
d i a l o gu e d e v e l o p i n g
among us—in fact, you
might even want to listen
in.”
The group is com-
prised of U.S. Forest Ser-
vice District Ranger Pam
Bode; Ron Phillips, Illinois
Valley Community Re-
sponse Team (IVCRT)
executive director; Rough
& Ready Lumber Co. part-
owners “Link” and Jenni-
fer Phillippi; Don Smith,
executive director of the
Siskiyou Regional Educa-
tion Project; Jim Nolan,
People for the USA com-
mittee chairman; Jim
Frick, a broker with Cen-
tury 21 Harris & Taylor;
and Bob Rodriguez, owner
and editor of “Illinois Val-
ley News.”
Valley residents are
encouraged to help by add-
ing their names to the
statement by contacting
IVCRT at (541) 592-4400
or ivcrt@ivcrt.org.
The Forestry Action
Committee will host an
opportunity for community
dialogue on the proposed
expansions to the
Kalmiopsis Wilderness
area.
The public meeting
will be held Thursday,
June 10, from 6:30 to 8
p.m. in the Illinois Valley
High School cafetorium.
Don’t forget! The deadline for the ‘I.V. News’ special Father’s Day section
and the annual ‘Valley Visitor’ is Friday, June 11.
For more information phone 592-2541