Dustin Wright of John Day, part of the gang edger crew at Prairie Wood Products, shortens a saw blade on July 14, 2022. Prairie Wood Products officially reopened on July 11.

PRAIRIE CITY — Prairie Wood Products has been awarded a $1 million grant from the U.S. Forest Service as part of an effort to strengthen the wood products economy and promote sustainable forest management.

Through the Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance grant program, the Forest Service is providing funding to wood processing facilities to improve, establish, retrofit or expand facilities that purchase and process byproducts from ecosystem restoration projects from federal or tribal lands.

These “economically vital” facilities are in areas at risk of unnaturally severe wildfire or insect and disease infestation, the agency said in a news release announcing the grant.

D.R. Johnson Lumber Co. reopened the Prairie Wood Products mill last July after a 15-year shutdown. A D.R. Johnson executive did not respond to phone calls and an email asking for comment on how the company planned to use the taxpayer-funded grant.

“The funding will likely be used to upgrade existing equipment or purchase new equipment to improve operations which will in turn increase the pace and scale of our work,” said Courtney King, spokesperson for the Malheur National Forest. “We rely on a healthy forest products economy to support our treatments like mechanical thinning, which involves removing overgrown trees from a forest. That’s generally what it will likely be used for, and the investment will likely support local jobs in the community, which is an important part.”

Oregon will receive a total of $3.7 million in funding in fiscal year 2023 at four locations in the state, including the Prairie Wood Products sawmill in Prairie City.

Like Prairie Wood, the city of Prineville and the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians in Southwest Oregon will be awarded $1 million each. Heartwood Biomass in Northeast Oregon is receiving a $737,100 grant as part of the effort.

The Forest Service’s investments in innovative wood products are intended to provide new economic opportunities, reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires, and support existing jobs in disadvantaged communities and tribal communities, according to the agency.

These funds are part of a $33.7 million national investment toward the wood products economy and sustainable forest management.