Wren Hill Lumber to receive $2 million federal grant for sawmill upgrades

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  Wren Hill Lumber, a Philomath-area sawmill operator, has been awarded a $2 million federal grant to upgrade its facility, U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced this week.

The funding will allow the company to increase capacity and efficiency and expand its ability to process small-diameter logs, according to the senators’ office.

The grant is part of a broader $15,091,037 investment in 20 wood innovation projects across Oregon, funded through the U.S. Forest Service’s Wood Innovations Program. The program supports active management of national forests and grasslands, aims to boost manufacturing capacity in the wood products sector, and is intended to bolster rural economies and jobs, according to the announcement.

Wren Hill Lumber’s award falls under the Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance category, one of three grant types included in the Oregon funding announcement. Other recipients in that category include sawmill projects in Prairie City, John Day and Gilchrist, along with a biomass energy project in Hines.

Merkley, who leads the Democratic side of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the Forest Service, said the investments support both the timber industry and wildfire risk reduction. Wyden said the funding would help strengthen an industry he called central to the state’s economy while continuing to fund projects statewide.

The Oregon grants are part of $105.5 million the Forest Service is distributing nationwide this year through the Wood Innovations Program, which funds public, private and nonprofit wood products projects.

Merkley also sponsors legislation aimed at expanding wood product use in federal construction and supporting mill modernization, including the Mass Timber Federal Buildings Act and the SAWMILL Act, according to the release.

Courtesy: www.philomathnews.com