PROGRESS 2019
CELEBRATING ACHIEVEMENTS IN OUR COMMUNITIES
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
1
JOHN DAY
CLAIMED WATER
AL PRODUCE
Contributed photo
Eagle fi le photo
John Day is pursuing a wastewater
reclamation facility similar to a larger
facility at Emory University in Atlanta,
Georgia.
John Day’s commercial greenhouses
have been constructed at the former
Oregon Pine mill site.
CREATION
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Eagle fi le photo
The new playground at the Seventh
Street Complex in John Day was
completed in time for the summer in
2019.
A for sale sign in the city of John Day,
which has implemented a housing
incentive program in hopes of
attracting new residents.
Numerous projects in
the works in John Day
City focusing on
growth, housing,
livability
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
I
n his fi rst state of the city
address in March 2018, John
Day City Manager Nick
Green called on the city to be
smart about spending and to
stick with its strategy for success.
He noted that a Portland State
University report forecast Grant
County would lose 17% of its pop-
ulation over the next 50 years.
Declining population means less
revenue for city services, he said.
“Does that have to be our fate?”
Green asked. “We don’t think it
does.”
One
year
later,
Green
announced plans to apply for more
than $10 million in grant funding.
That would be on top of the $4.5
million the city was awarded over
the past two years, he noted.
“We’re undertaking some com-
plex and ambitious projects,”
Green told the Eagle at the time.
Contributed photo
John Day agricultural project leader Matt Manitsas, checked shirt, leads a tour of John Day’s new commercial greenhouses during the Regional
Economic Diversifi cation Summit in John Day on June 11.
“We recognize that. We also feel
it’s necessary to help our commu-
nity recover fi nancially from its
extended economic decline.”
The city’s strategy for growth
hopes to attract digital commuters,
active retirees and young work-
ing families to John Day by pro-
viding more recreational ameni-
ties, broadband internet access and
improved housing stock. But the
strategy depends on a number of
interconnected projects and mil-
lions of dollars in grants and loans
to succeed.
John Day is the largest city in
Grant County and provides many
of the services not available in the
smaller cities.
Economic challenges
With about 1,750 residents,
See City, Page 14
FORESTS
New growth emerging in timber industry
Construction underway
on fi rst commercial
torrefaction plant in
North America
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
The collapse of the timber
industry in Grant County over the
past decades negatively impacted
the entire community, from jobs to
schools to public services.
Just as the lights seemed to be
going out for the last mill running
in the county, collaborative efforts
and a long-term stewardship con-
tract kept John Day’s lone mill
running and loggers in the woods.
A new high-tech plant currently
under construction may provide
additional help to the struggling
industry.
Declining industry
The timber and forest-related
industry has been a signifi cant eco-
nomic driver in Grant County for
decades. At one time, timber mills
and related businesses could be
found across Grant County, with
several mills running in John Day
and smaller operations in Monu-
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Finished product ready to be shipped at Iron Triangle’s post and pole
plant in Seneca.
A handful of briquettes made from torrefi ed wood at a research facility in
Louisville, Kentucky.
ment, Long Creek, Dayville and
Mt. Vernon. Larger mills operated
in Prairie City, Bates and Seneca.
According to a May 2019 draft
Economic Opportunities Analy-
sis report by Johnson Econom-
ics, local employment in natural
resource jobs is nearly six times
the national average. But this local
economic sector has seen a sharp
decline, largely attributable to fall-
ing timber production on public
lands since 1993.
tion then fell to less than 100 mil-
lion since 1996, bottoming out at
about 20 million board-feet for
2008-2015 before slightly increas-
ing to about 35 million in 2016.
Grant County has a strong
timber history. In 1922, the For-
est Service laid out the Bear Val-
ley Unit timber sale, which the
Edward Hines Lumber Co. picked
up in 1928. At 890 million board-
feet, the multiyear contract is con-
sidered the largest timber sale
According to data from the
Oregon Department of Forestry,
annual timber production in Grant
County ranged around 200-260
million board-feet per year from
1962 to 1977, with peaks of 300
million in 1973 and 340 million in
1975.
Production plunged to about
110 million board-feet per year
in 1980-1983 before dramatically
increasing to 300 million in 1985
and 290 million in 1989. Produc-
in Pacifi c Northwest history. A
52-mile railroad spur was run from
Burns to Seneca, and timber cut-
ting on the unit continued through
1968.
Hines built a company town in
Harney County next to Burns, and
the city of Hines was incorporated
in 1930. Seneca began to grow in
1929, when the company estab-
lished a planing mill and railroad
See Timber, Page 12