NewsWatch 12 KDRV.com
By Brandi Smith
ROSEBURG, Ore. -- Spread over more than 5,000 acres, Douglas County encompasses the entire Umpqua River basin from Diamond Lake to Reedsport. Its economic history is as rich as the land its first settlers mined.
When the county was established in 1852, people came there looking for gold. But they found something else valuable in the soil: its ability to grow just about anything.
"Prunes grew well here. Nut crops grew well here," said UCC professor Chris Lake. "Kruse Farms had 700 acres of cauliflower a long time ago."
Over time, focus turned to another natural resource; lumber mills started popping up all over the valley. After World War II, things really started hopping.
"I think the best years were mid-50s to mid-60s," said Art Adams, owner of Nordic Veneer, Inc. "There were a lot of mills in the area then, but it was great."
Things steadied in the 1980s. The mills became a way of life for their workers, like 17-year Roseburg Forest Products employee Jeremy Wiest.
"I think it's probably the biggest thing we have in this county, the timber industry," he said. "It was in my family. My dad worked in the industry, worked for Roseburg Forest Products."
Mills are also a way of life for their owners, like Adams. His father owned Nordic when he started working there in 1966.
"It's been a big part of my life my entire life," he said. "This pretty much defines me."
The industry also came to define the county, which made a name for itself as the timber capital of the state, the country and the world. Nearly 8 percent of the people who work in Douglas County work in wood products manufacturing. Compare that to about 2 percent of Lane County or 3 percent of Coos County.
When the 1990s rolled in, the spotted owl and more logging restrictions on federal land did too. The climate was changing -- and for Douglas County, it was not changing for the better.
"We've lost a lot of capacity due to the curtailment of harvesting on government timber lands," said RFP president Allyn Ford. "We cannot manufacture products out of air. We need trees."
Just more than four years ago, the housing bubble burst. What had always been the county's greatest strength was now clearly its greatest weakness.
"In Douglas County, the recession was especially bad because it's still somewhat dependent on manufacturing, especially wood products," said Worksource regional economist Brian Rooney.
New home construction dropped by nearly 70 percent. There were 2 million housing starts in 2007, but in 2012, that number is closer to 600,000. When demand drops that drastically, layoffs are a given. RFP handed pink slips to about 20 percent of its workers.
"Doesn't matter whether you're somebody who pours concrete, if you're a framer, if you're somebody who's in the cabinetry business," said Ford. "You work up the supply chain and into the manufacturing side, it's been devastating."
"t affects every business in this community," said Debbie Fromdahl, Roseburg Chamber of Commerce president, "because those are the folks who are actually spending money in all those different venues."
Unemployment soared from 7.4 percent in 2007 up to 16.2 percent in 2009. Even today, it's nowhere close to those 2007 numbers.
"I've been in the industry for almost 45 years," said Ford, "I guess I have hash marks up and down my sleeve that indicate I've been through quite a few of them. This one -- there's no comparison."
Monday on KEZI 9 News at 6:30, we'll look at how Douglas County's timber industry is bouncing back from the Great Recession.
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