GIVING BACK SPECIAL SECTION | INSIDE
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
153rd Year • No. 43 • 12 Pages • $1.50
MyEagleNews.com
Seeding the future
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle
The Dayville Mercantile turns 125 years old
this year. It is one of the oldest continuously
running general stores in Oregon.
Dayville
Mercantile owner
fi ghting to stave
off foreclosure
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
Forestry partners look to extend
funding for Malheur restoration
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
Area in
detail
Fk
. Joh
nD
MALHEUR
ay
NATIONAL
FOREST
Beech
Creek
19
J
26
n
WHEELER
7
26
D ay R
John
Day
iver Mount
Vernon
26
Prairie
City
Unity
N . Fk
395
Seneca
Ma l h e
ur R
Si l v i e s
MALHEUR
NATIONAL
FOREST
MALHEUR
NATIONAL
FOREST
eur
. Ma l h
y
Da
CROOK
Riv
395
er
20
See Forest, Page A12
GRANT
395
ORE.
.
M
A
coalition of environ-
mentalists, public land
managers and timber
industry
profession-
als who found common
ground on hot-button forestry issues a
decade ago have applied for a 10-year
extension of their federal funding at
$4 million per year to continue doing
restoration projects on the Malheur
National Forest.
According to Craig Trulock, Mal-
heur National Forest supervisor, U.S.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
has not yet approved a list of prior-
itized projects to be funded under
the Collaborative Federal Land-
scape Restoration Program, which is
intended to encourage ecological and
economic sustainability and reduce
the risk of catastrophic wildfi res.
Money for CFLRP projects —
including ongoing work on the Mal-
heur by the Southern Blues Resto-
ration Coalition — is supposed to
be included in the infrastructure bill
working its way through Congress.
Despite the uncertainty surround-
ing that measure, Trulock said he
is confi dent the funding will come
through.
“The proposed appropriations are
$80 (million) to $100 million that are
fl oating around in Washington,” Tru-
lock said. That fi gure would more
than double what the Southern Blues
initiative has received in the past, he
said.
The Southern Blues Restoration
Coalition is a joint eff ort of Blue Moun-
tains Forest Partners and the Harney
County Restoration Collaborative.
Both groups are forestry collabora-
tives, groups of diverse stakeholders
formed to fi nd solutions to stubborn
forestry issues that satisfy environ-
mental concerns while providing
S. F k. Jo h n
See Mercantile, Page A12
Eagle fi le photo
The Southern Blues Restoration Coalition, a joint eff ort of the Blue Mountains Forest Partners and the Harney County Restoration Collaborative, has
applied for 10 years of additional funding to continue restoration projects on the Malheur National Forest.
oh
DAYVILLE — The owner of the Day-
ville Mercantile would like to be celebrat-
ing the historic store’s 125th anniversary,
but instead he fi nds himself fi ghting to
stave off foreclosure.
Founded in 1896, the
Old West-style empo-
rium is one of the old-
est continuously oper-
ating stores in the state,
but it might not hold that
title much longer: Scott
Knapp, who took over
Scott
ownership of the Dayville
Knapp
Merc at the start of 2020,
could be forced to close up shop after rep-
resentatives of the Graves Family Trust,
the store’s previous owners, implemented
foreclosure proceedings in July.
Up until then, according to Knapp, he
had been making interest-only payments
to the Graves family, an arrangement he
worked out after his restaurant hood-clean-
ing business — which he was using to sub-
sidize the Merc — was forced to shut down
for a time because of COVID-19.
Knapp said that the Graves family
chose not to renew the interest-only pay-
ment plan after June. Instead, he said they
off ered him $50,000 to take the Merc back.
Knapp called the off er an insult, consid-
ering he has spent $200,000 of his own
money to keep the historic general store
open.
Graves Family Trust attorney Douglas
J. Raab did not immediately respond to the
Eagle’s request for comment for this story.
However, the trust has been publish-
ing a paid advertisement in the newspaper
as part of the foreclosure process. The ad
states that Knapp still owes $489,258.58
on the property, plus interest and past-due
payments dating back to February.
If the balance due is not paid in full,
along with foreclosure costs and attor-
neys’ fees, the ad states that the Merc will
be sold at auction on the steps of the Grant
County Courthouse on Dec. 3.
Knapp told the Eagle that seeing
the Merc put up for sale has tested him
Burns
Hines
HARNEY
iv e
r
20
N
78
10 miles
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
New John Day park creates trail link
By BENNETT HALL
Blue Mountain Eagle
City honored for planning work
JOHN DAY — Construction is wrapping
up for the season on John Day’s newest green-
space, and while much work remains to be
done, the property should really start to look
like a park after the next round of improve-
ments in the spring, according to City Man-
ager Nick Green.
Located at the north end of Canton Street,
the Hill Family Park sits on 5 acres at the con-
fl uence of the John Day River with Canyon
and Davis creeks. The park includes signifi -
cant frontage along the south bank of the river,
and a narrow arm of the property follows the
east bank of Canyon Creek south toward Glea-
son Park and the Kam Wah Chung State Her-
itage Site.
Canton Street has been extended to pro-
vide vehicular access to the new park. Work
is wrapping up this week on a parking lot and
sidewalks, and fi nishing touches are being
put on the approaches to a recently installed
pedestrian and bicycle bridge spanning the
John Day River.
A lot of landscaping still needs to be done,
and additional work on the park will proceed
in phases.
The city of John Day has picked up another honor for
its community revitalization eff orts.
At a conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Aug. 22,
the John Day Innovation Gateway integrated planning
team received the Western Planner President’s Award for
their contributions, dedication and perseverance in ser-
vice to their fellow planners. The Western Planner is an
organization that represents 14 state planning associa-
tions throughout the West.
The team’s work includes planning for the Innova-
tion Gateway, a multifaceted project on the site of the
old Oregon Pine lumber mill and adjacent properties that
is envisioned as including an industrial park, hotel, con-
ference facilities, water garden, community gathering
space and other amenities. The team is also involved in
planning for the city’s integrated park system and other
developments.
John Day’s proposals for the Innovation Gateway and
related parks and infrastructure improvements have been
recognized before. In 2019, the city was honored with
the League of Oregon Cities’ Award for Excellence. The
next year, John Day was one of 10 cities nationwide to
receive the Environmental Protection Agency’s Recre-
ational Economies for Rural Communities Award, which
came with free technical assistance and a $4,000 grant.
Bennett Hall/Blue Mountain Eagle
John Day City Manager Nick Green stands on
the new pedestrian bridge across the John Day
River at Hill Family Park.
Eventually, a trail will meander under the
mature trees lining the river before looping
back to the parking lot, with a possible future
extension along the creek to Kam Wah Chung.
See Park, Page A12