JOHN DAY, Ore. — Just over $3.5 million in federal funding is on its way to several projects in the Malheur and Ochoco national forests aimed at reducing wildfire risk while supporting jobs in Eastern Oregon’s struggling timber industry.

Funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, the money is part of $20 million being awarded to 66 projects under the U.S. Forest Service’s hazardous fuels transportation assistance program.

The program helps cover the cost of transporting logs and other wildfire fuels such as smaller trees, brush, tree limbs and woody debris from national forests and grasslands for use in wood products manufacturing and wood energy production. 

The funding includes $5.4 million for eight projects in Oregon, including two on the Malheur National Forest and one on the Ochoco, according to a news release issued Nov. 14 by U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden.

The largest award on the Malheur, about $3.17 million, is going to Iron Triangle for a project that involves removing 240,000 tons of sawlogs and non-saw timber from about 9,000 acres on the forest.

“The projects are timber sales currently under contract on the Malheur National Forest,” said King Williams, a spokesman for the John Day-based logging company.

“The grant aids Iron Triangle to continue to complete forest restoration projects while providing local employment, as we have for the past 40-plus years.”

The High Desert Partnership, a collaborative organization working with the Burns Paiute Tribe, will get $50,000 to remove biomass from about 300 acres on the Malheur. 

Malheur Lumber is set to receive about $310,000 for a project involving the treatment of 973,000 cubic feet of small-diameter sawlogs and and biomass on about 1,100 acres in the Ochoco National Forest.

The John Day sawmill is in the process of shutting down while parent company Ochoco Lumber looks for a buyer, a partner or an investor to keep the operation going.

Bruce Daucsavage, a general director of Ochoco Lumber, said Malheur Lumber can’t currently mill raw logs, but could still find a way to process the material covered by the federal transportation grant.

He said discussions on a deal that could restart Malheur Lumber are underway, but if that doesn’t happen soon, the material could be hauled to another mill for processing.

“Having the grant is like an insurance policy,” he said. “It gives us other options.”

In the news release announcing the grants, Oregon’s two U.S. senators said the hazardous fuels transportation assistance was an important part of the federal strategy for addressing wildfire issues while supporting the state’s flagging timber industry.

“2024 was another record-breaking year for wildfires burning across our state, especially in Eastern Oregon. We need an all-hands-on-deck approach to combating these destructive fires,” Merkley said.

“This federal funding that the Forest Service is investing in our industries and communities hit hardest by mill closures is a tremendous economic boost, while reducing wildfire risk across Oregon.”

“Taking the offensive against wildfires with federal investments just like these is a must to reduce the risk of bigger and more destructive blazes threatening lives and property throughout Oregon,” especially in rural areas, Wyden added. “Oregonians in these communities suffered greatly this past year from infernos burning nearly 2 million acres in our state, and these federal funds will provide opportunities for them to fight back effectively.”