JOHN DAY, Ore. — The latest battle in Grant County’s timber wars is now underway.

The Malheur Forest Fairness Coalition has filed an opening brief with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that the dismissal of the group’s antitrust suit against two John Day businesses should be reversed.

The coalition, which includes the Prairie Wood Products sawmill in Prairie City and several Grant County logging companies and timberland owners, in 2023 filed a $117 million lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Pendleton claiming that Malheur Lumber and Iron Triangle LLC had created a de facto monopoly over softwood sawlogs in the region and were colluding to stifle competition.

Senior U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez allowed the plaintiffs to amend their original complaint twice before dismissing the suit with prejudice, meaning it could not be further amended and refiled.

Hernandez’s final ruling came Sept. 19, 2024, two days after Grant County Circuit Court Judge Rob Raschio awarded Iron Triangle $652,000 — plus tens of thousands more in interest and legal fees — in its suit against Prairie Wood Products for failing to pay for white fir logs delivered under contract to the Prairie City sawmill.

The coalition quickly filed a notice stating it planned to contest the decision and on Jan. 9 made its first substantive filing with the federal appeals court.

In their 54-page opening brief, the coalition’s attorneys contend that the lower court made six major legal mistakes in dismissing the lawsuit.

First, they argued that the U.S. District Court erred by dismissing the coalition’s claims that:

• Iron Triangle had a monopsony (a virtual monopoly) in the harvest rights market in the Malheur National Forest market area.

• Iron Triangle monopolized the local market for stewardship services. The company was the winning bidder for a long-term stewardship contract with the Malheur National Forest that ran for 10 years, expiring in March 2023.

• Iron Triangle monopolized the local logging services market, in part by eliminating contract logging opportunities on private land through a “tying agreement” with Malheur Lumber. 

• Iron Triangle monopolized the market for softwood sawlogs, in part because of its “unique and unprecedented” access to standing timber in the Malheur National Forest.

• Iron Triangle and Malheur Lumber conspired to restrain trade in softwood sawlogs and logging services through an agreement that tied Iron Triangle’s sale of pine logs to Malheur Lumber’s refusal to buy contract logging services from Iron Triangle’s competitors.

Finally, the coalition’s lawyers claim the lower court was wrong in not allowing them to further amend their complaint, citing “the complexities of antitrust pleading and the liberal policy favoring amendment that prevails in this circuit.”

The opening brief concludes by asking the appeals court to reverse the district court’s decision to dismiss the antitrust suit. The coalition’s attorneys argue that the case should be sent back to the lower court for further proceedings, either under the second amended complaint or under a third amended complaint to be prepared by them.

According to the court docket for the appeal, attorneys for Malheur Lumber and Iron Triangle have until Feb. 10 to file an answering brief.

Tim Snider of Stoel Rives LLP, one of the lawyers representing Malheur Lumber and Iron Triangle, said he was confident his clients would prevail.

“It is unfortunate that Prairie Wood Products and the other plaintiffs in this case continue to pursue baseless lawsuits rather than focusing their time and efforts on solutions to improve the timber industry in our community,” Snider said.

“The trial court in this case correctly dismissed this lawsuit as meritless, and we expect the court of appeals to do the same.”

An attorney for the coalition did not to respond to requests for comment prior to publication.

The appeal comes at a precarious time for Grant County’s timber industry.

Prairie Wood ceased operations and laid off most of its employees on March 1, 2024, resuming limited operations several months later with a staff of about 15 workers. 

Malheur Lumber closed down on Jan. 7 of this year. Malheur’s parent company, Ochoco Lumber, is in negotiations to sell the mill to Iron Triangle, but no deal has been announced and the Malheur Forest Fairness Coalition has vowed legal action to block the transaction.

The only other wood products manufacturing facility remaining in the county is Iron Triangle’s post and pole plant, which mills small-diameter logs for fencing and agricultural applications.