The Problem is not in Salem

When Rough & Ready Lumber Company announced the closure of the family-owned sawmill on April 18^th; legislators filled Oregon’s Capitol with speeches denouncing the loss of 85 family-wage jobs and the closure of one of Oregon’s venerable companies after 90 years.

The speeches brought bipartisan offers to do something, anything, to help. Unfortunately, the problem is not in Salem, the problem is in Washington D.C. Federal forest management has failed forest health, county receipts, rural communities, and the public timber dependent industry the U.S. Forest Service encouraged to locate in the Pacific Northwest following World War II.

Jennifer Phillippi, granddaughter of Rough and Ready’s founders, has graciously responded to media requests for the rest of the story. Her portrayal of the paradox of having a mill located in the middle of a productive National Forest yet her company is unable to purchase sufficient raw materials that would allow Rough and Ready to provide lumber for the improving housing market.

Jennifer’s poise in a difficult situation would have made her late father Lew Krauss, swell with pride. While keeping the sawmill operating, Jennifer has served the timber industry and the public tirelessly as a member of Oregon’s Board of Forestry and before that a board member of the Oregon Forest Resource Institute.