Around 140 jobs have vanished from Siskiyou County as of Wednesday. Roseburg Forest Products has suddenly ceased operations at its veneer plant after 40 years in the Town of Weed. The company says it’s consolidating its veneer production to its mills in Riddle and Coquille, Oregon. The company president says they’ve been challenged by competition from a flood of low-cost imported products. The 140 Weed Roseburg employees will get pay and healthcare for another 60 days to help them transition. The Town of Weed is still recovering from the Mill Fire, which started in September of 2022 from a malfunction at Roseburg’s biomass plant which burned wood waste and generated electricity for the mill. The fire spread through Lincoln Heights and north to the Community of Lake Shastina. It burned almost 3,000 acres, destroyed 92 homes and 26 other buildings, and killed two women. Roseburg acknowledged responsibility for the fire and established a $50 Million relief fund to compensate survivors.
-Steve Gibson