Wallowa Resources

About Us

In 1996, leaders in Wallowa County created Wallowa Resources, a new community-based nonprofit to support a collective effort of private landowners, local businesses, county government and others to sustain and enhance the County’s natural resource economy.For 24 years, we have enhanced opportunities on our forests and grasslands while caring for the land and water for future generations. Thriving rural communities must have strong education opportunities, a commitment to taking care of the land and water, and diverse, locally owned businesses. We work with public and private partners to support Wallowa County and other rural communities in northeast Oregon.

In 1996, due to changes in national forest management, the saw mills shut down and 20% of the workforce lost their jobs overnight. In the back room of a bakery, a group of local citizens came together to create a new community organization to deal with this abrupt economic downturn–Wallowa Resources.

Since then, we have invested our time, money, and effort in taking care of Wallowa County’s land and community. We educate the next generation. We put local people to work. We share our successes–and our failures–so that we can learn from each other. We work to revitalize rural communities, especially Wallowa County. Our response to that founding crisis became a national model for community-based solutions.While the initial priority was to ensure displaced forest and mill workers found new, meaningful and rewarding work – it soon became clear that a broader economic vision and plan was needed. This new vision must m