Bruce Daucsavage: ‘The change is about more than just the mills’

From Investigate West, April 27, 2015: In August 2012, Ochoco Lumber Co. announced plans to close its mill in John Day, Oregon, due in part to a shortage of timber supply from neighboring public lands. The announcement meant that rural Grant County would be losing its last surviving sawmill — and with it about 70 jobs in a community already reeling from the recession. The John Day mill seemed destined to become another painful chapter in Oregon’s history of rural economic decline, but three years later, it’s being celebrating as a Douglas fir-sized success story. The difference: an unlikely alliance of environmentalists, timber leaders, and public officials working together to complete the Malheur stewardship agreement, a ten-year forest thinning project expected to produce a reliable timber supply while also improving forest health. Thanks to that agreement, the John Day mill is hiring workers again and exploring new opportunities to expand. InvestigateWest caught up with Ochoco Lumber president Bruce Daucsavage to discuss drinking scotch with environmentalists, funding collaboration, and re-tooling mills to succeed in today’s marketplace. Read the interview with Bruce Daucsavage over at Investigate West