ELGIN – Grant County officials and community members planned to turn out a crowd for a timber supply meeting in Elgin this Wednesday, Oct. 22.

The Grant County Court canceled its regularly scheduled meeting so that members could attend the session from 9 to 10:30 a.m. in the Elgin Community Center.

The meeting will allow county officials, timber industry representatives and Forest Service officers to discuss eastside forest issues with the new Region 6 Forest Service supervisor, Mary Wagner and U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.).

Grant County Judge Mark Webb is scheduled to speak about the impact of declining timber harvests in Grant County. Commissioner Boyd Britton also will be on hand to discuss the county’s situation.

The meeting is expected to draw interested parties from across Northeastern Oregon.

The program is expected to include brief presentations and a discussion of actions needed by Congress, the communities and the Forest Service to maintain and grow the forest industry infrastructure for the future.

Encouraging a good turnout for the meeting, King Williams said in an e-mail that “Grant County, our economy, and our people can’t wait for the US Forest Service to move at their pace.”

Williams, a member of the Grant Resource Enhancement Action Team (GREAT), said residents must make the Forest Service understand the impacts of depressed timber supply on the workforce, local businesses, local schools, and families.

“This county has faced the displacement of nearly 40 percent of our manufacturing work force and as we all know, this will carry with it scores of dependant jobs and the associated economic activity.”

Local organizers were arranging for a bus to take supporters to Elgin, north of LaGrande, for the meeting.