Kinzua's closure marks the end of an era
By Mciiyn Robinson
It's the end o f an era as Kinzua
Resources in Heppner closes its
doors. Kinzua has been a major
industry for a natural resource-
dependent area. The loss of jobs
and the economic impact is a
devasting blow for South
Morrow County.
For nearly a century, the name
Kinzua has been linked with the
history o f this Eastern Oregon
area. The wood products
industry has played a dominant
role in the livelihoods o f several
generations.
The Kinzua Tree Farm was
founded in 1909 by E.D.
Wetmore o f Pennsylvania. It's
said that he rode horseback
through Eastern Oregon to
purchase 50,000 forested acres
from homesteaders. These lands
were then leased back to
ranchers for grazing purposes.
The original mill town of
Kinzua, about 16 miles from
Fossil in Wheeler County, was
founded about 1917. This
company-owned town grew to
include a general store, school,
post office, church and 125
homes. In 1927 work began on
24 miles o f railroad to connect
Kinzua with the railhead at
Condon as a way to ship lumber
and box factory products.
According to reports, Kinzua
was one of the few sawmills that
did not shut down during the
Great Depression o f the 1930s.
The Heppner Kinzua site was
originally the Heppner Pine
Mill, founded by Orville J.
Smith. In 1935 H.O. Wray built
a small sawmill on land
purchased from Frank Parker on
Willow Creek below Heppner.
That mill was consumed by fire.
Smith then purchased that
property where he built a
sawmill that made box shooks
and pine crating materials. In
1959 Kinzua purchased the
Heppner Pine Mill.
The Heppner sawmill site
became larger after adjoining
land was purchased from the
Wightman Brothers, who
formerly had a dairy at that
location. During the 1930s and
40s Kinzua increased its forest
holdings to include 100,000
acres. In the late 50s, the
Kinzua operation was purchased
by a group of Pacific Northwest
lumbermen. Beginning in 1954
new barkers, better lumber
handling methods and new
planers added to the efficiency
o f this sawmill.
In 1967 Alan Nistad became
manager
for
Kinzua
Corporation, succeeding former
manager A.B. Coleman. Kinzua
increased their holdings by
purchasing 52,000 acres from
the Lloyd Hudspeth estate in
1968. By 1970 plans were made
, to build a veneer plant to make
plywood from trees not suitable
for lumber. When Kinzua added
93 more employees in 1973 the
Heppner area experienced a
housing shortage.
With the plywood plant going
full blast, Kinzua purchased 2.12
acres near Pioneer Memorial
Hospital to build single and
multi-family residences for
employees. Kinzua's 59-acre
mill site was rezoned as
industrial property. In the mid-
70s, with the economy booming,
there were public tours of
Kinzua. Valued at $19 million,
Kinzua was being assessed
around $290,500 in yearly
property taxes. However, it was
also recorded that pine beetle
infestations were already taking
a toll on Ponderosa Pine trees in
the forest.
In 1977 Kinzua spent $4.5
million to modernize the
Heppner sawmill. The following
year, Kinzua closed the sawmill
and facilities at the original
Kinzua site. Workers and
families were uprooted. Some
workers chose to move to the
Heppner area so they could
continue to work for Kinzua.
When the volatile market for
plywood dropped sharply,
Kinzua shut down the veneer-
plant in 1970. This put 150
people out o f work and left
empty the large buildings that
were used in this operation.
, By 1980 a waste wood-fired
electric and steam generating
plant to generate electricity and
kiln dry green lumber was
proposed. At the same time,
there was another downsizing o f
workers when manager Harry
Kennison announced that there
wasn’t enough big timber
available to keep two work shifts
going. So 20 employees were
laid off. As the size and
availability of large logs
declined, Kinzua decided to add
a $2 million small log
processing mill.
Kennison claimed that Kinzua
was a forerunner in the
automation and modernization
of sawmills. Kennison took over
as manager following the
retirement of Alan Nistead who
had spent 14 years at the helm of
Kinzua operations. By 1981 a
remodeled large log sawmill and
a new stud mill came on line and
created jobs for 40 more
workers. An abundance of white
fir was used to make 30 million
board feet o f 2x4s per year, with
80 million board feet o f
processed lumber per year all
told.
By 1985 Kinzua had added a
chipping plant and a co­
generation plant. The co-gen
plant, costing $14 million,
produced 70 million kilowatts of
electricity per year. The power
was sold to Portland General
Electric. Again in 1988 Kinzua
spent $3 million to modernize
the sawmill using the latest
computer technology. Kinzua
also bought out the limited
partnership in the co-gen plant.
"I’ve seen the best of times in
the lumber industry," said
Kennison when he retired in
1988 after 13 years as Kinzua
manager and 42 years in the
wood products industry. Frank
Pearson, who then became
manager, said he agreed with
Kennison that the industry faced
challenging times.
Loud protests were heard
about clear cuts, environmental
impact and logging practices in
watershed areas. In 1989 the
proposed harvest on Forest
Service land was downsized
from 154 million board feet to
125 million board feet. By 1990
the insect damage from Douglas
Fir Bark Beetles and Spruce Bud
Worms had decimated a large
amount o f Blue Mountain
timber. Kinzua funded an
expensive airplane spraying
program to deter these insects.
But restrictions against spraying
near streams left pockets of
in fe sta tio n
in clu d in g
neighboring Forest Service
land.
Meanwhile Kinzua doubled its
efforts to plant grass and tree
seedlings. In 1991 160,000 little
pine trees were planted in areas
conducive to pine tree growth.
Logging
practices
were
upgraded to minimize land
damage and to selectively cut
trees. In the early 90s it was
reported that Kinzua's yearly
operating cost was about
$700,000 with a workforce of
170 employees.
The co-generation plant was
shut down in 1994 due to
reduced availability of wood-
waste fuel, it was reported. And
the shaky future o f the lumber
industry perhaps led to the sale
o f Kinzua to Pioneer Resources
L.L.C., a Eugene-based group of
investors, in Feb. 1994.
That take-over closed the mill
and 125 employees were laid
off. With no assurance that the
mill would re-open, a large
group o f protesters drove to
Eugene to picket in front o f the
offices o f the new owners. But
the sawmill did re-open in May,
1994. And when the mill started
up again, there were 125
workers running one and one-
half shifts. According to reports,
the new owners sold large tracts
o f timber holdings. One parcel
o f land on Buckaroo Flats sold
to Louisiana Pacific for
$2,147,600.
The unfortunate permanent
closure o f this sawmill creates a
lamentable
circumstance.-
However a legacy, in part, has
been Kinzua's generosity
through the years. Kinzua has
donated towards community
projects with money, labor and
equipment.
To
enhance
recreation they donated land for
the Bull Prairie Reservoir
campground, land to enhance the
Anson Wright Park and
established a golf course near
Fossil. When the previous
owners of Kinzua sold to
Pioneer Resources, they donated
$250,000 to South Morrow
County that was used to enhance
or finance community projects.
(Note: This article was based on
newspaper reports published in
the Heppner Gazette Times.)
(Editor's note: Mike Evans,
land manager for Pioneer
Resources, L.L.C., in Veneta,
told
the
Gazette-Times
Thursday, March 4, that the
Kinzua mill at Pilot Rock had
not been sold. However, Evans
replied that he could not
comment on rumors that Pioneer
Resources was negotiating a sale
o f the Pilot Rock mill. "There
are always people interested in
the mill," said Evans.
After the sale of the Kinzua
plant in Heppner, Pioneer
Resources management said that
they planned to add on another
shift at the Pilot Rock mill,
which would require an
additional 38 workers. They said
that Kinzua workers in Heppner
would get first chance at those
jobs, however, no second shift
had been added by presstime
March 9. "(The Pilot Rock Mill)
had started the process to put on
a third shift," said Evans. "The
procedure has been delayed, but
not eliminated."
"One-hundred-thirty-six
workers lost their jobs when
Kinzua closed, approximately 70
of those from the south Morrow
County area. The mill closed
early due to the tragic death of
Juan Tellechea at the Heppner
mill on February 25. Shutdown
was originally scheduled for
March 16.)
WBVÍ/0M
Richard Hathaway of Pendleton won
Auction set
Sunday,
March 14
It's only a few more days until
the St. Patrick's Day
Celebration. The St. Patrick's
auction committee reminds
everyone o f the auction on
Sunday, March 14, at the
Morrow County Fair and Rodeo
grounds.
Viewing of auction items will
begin at 11 a.m., accompanied
by the folk music o f the group,
Mountain Aire.
The auction itself will begin at
1 p.m. Admission will be $1 or a
"Pot O' Gold" button. Also
during the viewing and auction a
lamb barbecue and other
refreshments will be available.
More and more auction items
have been donated, including
two Swedish massages, a hand-
crocheted baby ensemble, two
tickets to the Trailblazers game
against the Grizzlies in April,
four tickets to a Winterhawks
game, a collector's edition Irish
porcelain doll, two horse
shoeings, a Black Hills Gold
ladies' ring, two French-glass
punch bowl sets, four sets of
wine glasses, a color TV set, and
even two hours o f singing
entertainment by Tim Cundell.
Kyle Robinson of the Kirk and
Robinson Ranch is donating one
third of the proceeds from the
sale of a yearling bull to the
auction.
Several sale formats will be
presented at the auction,
including a silent auction, a
"country store", and a raffle, in
addition to the main auction
event which should provide "a
lot of fun for all," said auction
chairperson Delanne Ferguson.
Donated items will be accepted
until Friday, March 12, so there
are still a couple o f days left to
contribute. Money raised at the
auction helps support the St.
Pat's Celebration
Donors may call the Brosnans
at 676-5886 to make
arrangements for item pickup.
Donations may also be left at the
"Twice Upon a Time" Bookstore
in Heppner.
P M H seeks y a r d
s a le d o n a t i o n s
Pioneer Memorial Nursing
Home Auxiliary is holding their
annual yard sale in June and is
accepting donations now. Anyone
wishing to contribute may notify
any member of the auxiliary, or
call Tonya Jones at 676-5128 or
676-2823. The proceeds from the
yard sale will be used to upgrade
the shower room and the beauty
shop.
The auxiliary held a “no bake”
sale in February. The money
made from the sale is being used
to purchase magazine racks that
will be placed in the dining room
and solarium.
The auxiliary meets on the first
Wednesday of the month. They
welcome new members. Anyone
interested in becoming a member
may contact Tonya Jones at the
above phone numbers.
playing
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