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FOUR The Gazette-Times, Fleppner, Oregon, Thursday, April 6. 1978
Compuny town reflects.
7T 77 77
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Reasons given
for closure
Kinzua Corporation's an
nouncement earlier this year
that closure of their sawmill-on-the-mountain
was immi
i nent, marked the beginning of
the end of a portion of the
j company's colorful history in
Morrow and Wheeler counties.
At the same time and
somewhat hidden between the
; lines was the message that
i Kinzua Corporation was re
' evaluating and reinforcing its
position in the wood products
industry and forest manage
i mei.t.
' Reasons behind the closure
of the mill and company town
s of Kinzua have been shrouded
f
j somewhat because of negotia-
tions on closing the operation.
I Kinzua officials have finished
I those negotiations and now the
details are laid out in full.
Kinzua Operations Manager
Harry Kennison sent a letter
! to company employees recent
i ly in which he outlined the
; factors that forced the deci
j sion to close the operation.
Kennison pointed out that
I over a year and-a-half ago the
' company was forced to close
; the railroad between Kinzua
I and Condon because bringing
the track up to Public Utility
j Commission standards would
I have cost some $3-million.
v At that point, according to
Kennison, the company had to
take a hard look at where they
were, and what moves would
have to be made for the future
of the company.
"We hired a firm out of
Portland to actually cruise
every tree the compnay had
and also, look at the wood
available in our area," said
Kennison.
"When it was completed, we
fbund that all of the timber we
had and all the timber
available was of small diam
ter...in fact, 42 per cent of it
being eight inches and under
in diameter," Kennison said.
With this information at
hand, company officials knew
the mill at Kinzua would not
be able to process the smaller
logs without substantial re
modelingestimated at $1.5
million.
In addition to those factors,
the Department of Environ
mental Quality wanted pollu
tion control, the Environmen
tal Protection Agency wanted
a sewer system and OSHA
wanted consideration given
noise control. All this, Kenni
son stated, added several
more millions of dollars to the
railroad and sawmill recon
struction costs. Economically,
it wasn't feasible.
Kennison said log decks
should carry operations at the
Kinzua mill until the first part
of June.
"At that time, we will have
to start the procedure of
closing a very colorful era. It
has served us very well for
so many years, and it is a very
sad day for us all," Kennison
said.
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You can get anything you want at the Kinzua
Mercantile, which, along with the Kinzua Cafe &
Tavern affectionately known as Barry's Place are
the liveliest spots in town. Prominently displayed at
both businesses are signs proclaiming the future "No
Credit After April 14th".
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Founded in the early part of this century by E.D.
Wetmore, the Kinzua Tree Farm of 50,000 acres gave
birth to Kinzua Corporation, a leader in the wood
products industry. A good portion of the company's
history lies here in the Town of Kinzua owned and
operated by the company for more than six decades.
Kinzua Corporation recently made the decision in the
face of economics to close the company town and
sawmill operation. At the same time, Kinzua is
bolstering its position in (he industry and the ensuring
future of forest lands of Morrow and Wheeler counties
with concentrated management of the forests and a
new sawmill in Ileppner.
Company of ficials look
to timber future
The events leading to the
closure of the mill at Kinzua
and, separately, the construc
tion of a new $4.5 million
sawmill in Heppner point to a
deeper and far more complex
area of production at Kinzua
Corporation.
The company's goal is to
provide a perpetual supply of
usable wood fibre, while
striking a compatible balance
with other resource values
such as grazing, wildlife,
watersheds and recreation.
Providing that perpetual
supply of wood or keeping
the forest lands on a sustained
yield basis in a low rainfall
area is a production concern
Kinzua Corp. has planned for.
The new Heppner sawmill
expected to be ready by
mid-June was designed by
Operations Manager Harry
Kennison to fully utilize all
sizes of raw timber taken from
Morrow and Wheeler counties.
Logs ranging from five inches
to five feet in diameter can be
processed and used for either
dimension lumber or in the
company's veneer plant.
I Kennison explains the im
i portance of utilizing the small
I diameter logs this way:
"We have enough raw
; timber to take us down the
; road many years, but a big
part of that timber supply is
small diameter logs harvested
in thinning operations.
' "We depend on limited
, rainfall in our area and
consequently the number of
: trees per acre must be limited
to provide satisfactory
growth. In each harvesting
:' operation our foresters select
', the best trees as 'leave trees'
to provide for a future crop.
"In addition to quality of
trees harvested, consideration
is given to correct spacing of
the trees. A newly planted
area might number 700 trees
per acre while a healthy stand
of harvest size trees might
number 100 trees per acre.
"The period in a stand's life
between its' establishment
and the first commercial
thinning is critical. Wood cuts
show trees growing more
wood fibre in eight years af
ter one pre-commercial thin
ningthan they grew in the
previous 38 years.
"For every 17,500 acres
thinned, an increase in annual
production of one million
board feet results, along with
dramatic increases in forage
for livestock and wildlife."
Considering that Kinzua
Corp. owns over 200,000 acres
of its' own forest land and
manages almost that much of
privately owned lands, the
importance of the company's
intensive managment, thin
ning practices and the ability
to utilize small logs becomes
apparent.
Kennison continues, "A ty
pical operation for us includes
the following practices. A
normal logging operation re
moves the harvest size trees.
Then a commercial thinning
operation follows, designed to
obtain the desired spacing of
trees over nine inches in
diameter at the stump, using
material to five inches in
diameter at the top for the
plywood facility at Heppner.
"This is followed by pre
commercial thinning to pro
vide proper spacing of trees
under nine inches in diameter.
Final treatment includes
clean-up of brush, closing as
many roads . as possible,
planting grass seed and seed
lings." The end result is increased
production for future genera
tions and a constant supply of
useable timber for present
generations. ..the end result of
a company making wise and
sometimes tough manage
ment decisions.
A snowplow made of solid steel and a deteriorating
wooden boxcar huddle close together.. .solemn remains
of the bustling railroad that once carried many
millions of board feet of lumber from Kinzua to
Condon. The railroad was closed about 18 months ago
when it was learned that $3 million would be needed to
bring the track to Public Utility Commission
standards.
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HEPPNER LIONS MUSTANG
club nrnTa1
Buy a greet, lightweight jacket end support the
Heppner High School Bend Uniform Fund.
Lined Jackets ....$15 Unlined Jackets ...$10
Jackets are Navy Blue with Yellow Gold Lettering
For Your Jacket, Please Contact Lions Lee Hazen, Robb Rush,
Frank Pearson, Or John Edmundson To Place Your Order
Jackets are being provided at cost by KROLL'S
DEPARTMENT STORE and all proceeds will go to
support the band's drive to earn money for
uniforms.
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DANK OF
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Member: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
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