$6.15M in federal funding will help reopen two Grant County sawmills
By Logan Bagett on Tuesday, August 18th, 2026 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
PRAIRIE CITY / JOHN DAY – The timber processing industry in Grant County is getting a $6.15-million-dollar “shot in the arm” to revive two sawmills in Prairie City and John Day. It was announced yesterday by Senators Wyden and Merkley that Prairie Wood Products, LLC will receive $2 million for restarting and upgrading the existing sawmill facility to process low value logs in Eastern Oregon. Co-Gen CO. LLC in Prairie City also got $2 million to reopen and upgrade a combined heat and power biomass energy system co-located with the sawmill to provide fuel.
Jodi Westbrooks, President of DR Johnson Lumber and Prairie Wood Products stated, “This investment will help move our Prairie City projects forward, beginning with restarting the cogeneration facility and continuing to evaluate opportunities for the sawmill. Together, these efforts have the potential to create and sustain family-wage jobs, improve forest health, reduce wildfire risk, and strengthen Oregon’s forest products industry.”
In John Day, $2 million will go to Malheur Forest Products LLC for retrofitting, modernizing and reopening the idle sawmill to handle small diameter and low value logs. They’ve also received an additional $150,000 to complete permitting and other requirements to reopen sawmill facility.
Malheur Forest Products owner, Russ Young, said, “We’ve fought through some difficult years to keep people working and keep the forest products industry alive in Grant County. When times were tough, we stayed, we kept investing, and we kept believing in this community. This $2+ million investment will help us build on that commitment by putting Malheur Forest Products back to work, creating family-wage jobs and strengthening the infrastructure needed to actively manage our forests. We’re grateful to USDA and Senators Wyden and Merkley for investing with us in the future of Grant County.”
According to U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, the U.S. Forest Service is investing a total of $15,091,037 across 20 wood innovations projects in Oregon.
