"We came back here
because there's family here. Seattle was too big."
"There's just more and more people,
wherever you look."
"My great grandfather homesteaded land
between here and Albany."
Publics
Lebanon has a
strong farming community, as well as a large commercial and retail business
community. It also a strong professional and working class public, many of whom
are oriented to commuting to the larger urban centers. Children as a proportion
of the population held steady in the last decade (Census Data, Table Five) at
12%, contrary to the decline in many of the other smaller communities,
indicating that families are still able to make ends meet in the community.
Hispanics doubled in number during the last decade and now comprise 4% of the
population.
Networks
See Section Two.
Work Routines
Lebanon serves as
a center for shopping and services for residents in surrounding rural
communities. As a result, the trades, construction and services sectors
dominate its employment base. Lumber and wood products is still the dominant
manufacturing activity. Lebanon's biggest employer is Hewlett-Packard in
Corvallis (Analysis of the Regional Economy and Housing for Linn and Benton
Counties, ECONorthwest for Cascade West Council of Governments, November,
1999).
The City
Administration reported the following major employers for Lebanon workers as of
August, 2000:
Lebanon Community
Hospital, medical services: 580
Willamette
Industries [now Weyerhaeuser], wood products: 411
Entek
Manufacturing, micro porous plastic membrane: 300
Georgia Pacific,
hardwood: 127
Willamette Valley
Rehab. Center, custom boards for pallets: 125
Source: Community
Profiles, Oregon Economic and Community Development Department, 2000.
Timber
"Three mills shut down about 15 years ago, but it
didn't hit the town as hard as people expected. The employees came from other
places so we didn't notice the effects as much."
Commuting/trades
and services
"Nowadays,
about 40% of the workers go elsewhere - Albany, Corvallis, and Salem. The
improvements to Highway 34 really helped." [Community Development Manager]
"Walmart
was a surprise. It actually helped the community because it has helped Lebanon
become a regional shopping center for the small communities around here."
"When
Walmart came, a lot of the dollars that were going to Albany began to stay
here."
Support Services
The Lebanon
Community Hospital has recently joined the Samaritan Health Services
Organization. Its service area extends to Sweet Home and Brownsville to the
south, Scio to the north, and the many small communities like Lacomb to the
east. Residents voiced concern that the close relationship between the hospital
and the community could be threatened but those worries have not materialized.
The hospital was begun by Mennonites who remain an important presence in the
area.
The city recently
received nearly $400,000 of federal transportation money through the Oregon Department
of Transportation to implement a downtown beautification program. The project
will include trees, curbs, bicycle racks, water fountains, and other features.
Some residents
mentioned the Lebanon Basic Services Center. This facility refers citizens to
different service organizations and agencies.
Many churches are
linked to each other via phone trees that are activated in a crisis. The
Lebanon Chapel Christian Fellowship began about 4 years ago to become involved
in the community and was instrumental in starting the "Trauma Crisis
Intervention Program," training volunteers to counsel those affected by crisis.
The program has been well received in the community.
In the last 20
years, the community has been active in preserving historical resources. The
City formed an historical commission that has sponsored the nomination of 38
sites to the Lebanon Historic Register and 7 to the National Register.
Lebanon was described as a
caring, close-knit community.
"After the February storm, my husband's church
organized a relief drive for those who were affected by the storm and those
without electricity. For over a week, volunteers served three meals a day for
over 400 people."
"My church approached the school district and
offered to adopt a school. We began painting classrooms and helping with meals
for kids in need. Now other communities are looking at this, especially with
the budget cuts."
"Whenever a house burns down, all the neighbors from
the immediate area as well as from all over town come to see what they can do
to help."
Lebanon has held
the Strawberry Festival since 1909. Today, the festival in June attracts people
from a wide radius. Residents pointed out that Lebanon people have had the
practice of visiting other festivals such as the Jamboree and Sportsman's
Holiday in Sweet Home, the Pioneer Picnic in Brownsville, and the Lamb Festival
in Scio.
Figure 55 shows a
photo of a mural on a City of Lebanon building, downtown Lebanon.
Figure 55
Mural on the City of Lebanon
Community Development Center Building
Recreational Activities
See Section Three.
B.
Citizen Themes Related
to Community Life
1. "There's more
and more people."
2. "Timber doesn't
matter anymore." Timber production and forest products manufacturing does not
have the place of dominance that it did years ago. People said their economy is
fairly diverse and that that is a positive change.
3. "We used to be
a local town but now we're regional." Residents stated that they are looking
outward now in a way that didn't happen thirty years ago. They realize they are
not just a small town but part of a regional economy.
"Real estate listings used to be just local, but now
they are posted in the region. With housing high in Albany and Corvallis,
people realize that they can buy here much more cheaply."
"Local
financial institutions are global now. Nobody makes local decisions."
4. "Lebanon is a
very conservative place and I'm a conservative guy!"
"This is a very conservative community, close-knit,
and when there is a crisis the whole community is affected by it."
"The golden rule in this community is ask first."
[in reference to controversies in which the public was not included early]
5. Economic
uncertainty
"The price of gas was cheaper a week ago, then all
of a sudden, without warning, it's up like 17 cents. We had nothing to say
about that. Those forces are out of our reach."
"We
can hardly afford insurance at the church anymore."
Section
Two:
Communication
Strategies
A. Informal Networks and Communication
People rely on the
Albany Democratic Herald
Big John's Café,
downtown Lebanon, is used by working people who know each other well.
Korner Kitchen
Our Place Deli
McDonalds, a group
of elderly folks meet there every morning
B. Formal Groups and Communication
Figure 56
Organizations With Interest in Public Lands in the Lebanon
Area
|
Organization
|
Contact Information
|
Mission
|
|
North Santiam Slow Pokes
Bicycle Club
|
C/O Lebanon Community Hospital
P.O. Box 739
525 N. Santiam Hwy
Lebanon 97355
|
|
|
Cascade Offroaders
|
http://www.cascadeoffroaders.com/
|
|
|
Lebanon Area Chamber of
Commerce
|
1040 Park Street
Lebanon, OR 97355
(541) 258-7164
barballen@lebanonoregon.net
|
|
|
Linn County Small
Woodland Association
|
Ron Henthorne, ODF
Crawfordsville
541-367-6108
|
Education on small
woodlot management; specialty tree management for members
|
Section
Three:
The
Public Lands Perspective
A. Uses of and Orientation to Public
Lands
The county
campground recently developed at Waterloo "has been a boon to the community."
Clerks at sporting
goods stores reported more sales of hiking equipment in the last couple of
years, while hunting and fishing business has remained stable. Lebanon has a
specialty outfitter store whose manager stated that they cannot compete with
the larger sporting goods stores, so they try to provide items that the big
stores don't carry. This store has maps available and limited information about
recreation opportunities. They often send people to the Sweet Home Ranger
Station for more information. [310]
The Udell family
sponsors an annual Tree Day on their family property near Lebanon. Its purpose
is to educate youth and the community about timber issues. The Extension
Office, other agencies, and the small woodlands association, use the event for
educational purposes related to woodlot management, and so on.
Extension agents
are used extensively in this part of the Willamette Valley for assistance in
woodlot management and private forestry concerns.
B.
Citizen Issues Related to Natural
Resource Management
"I get a lot
of requests for park permits, also for maps and trail information. I send them
to the Sweet Home Ranger Station." [Clerks at various sporting goods stores]
"It would be a great service for our customers if we
had more information about recreation on public lands and if we could sell
permits."
"People causing trouble on public lands are
transplants. If I find garbage in the forest, I go through and find an envelope
or something and I call whoever it is and give them 24 hours to pick it up or
else."
"Lots of hazardous stuff is left in the woods, stuff
like paint. That's why private landowners are putting gates on the roads.
Weyerhaeuser once paid a guy to haul garbage out of a site near LaComb. The
trucker told me he took 33 semi loads out of there."
C. Management Opportunities
Although the
JKA team did not find a strong orientation to public lands, the farming
lifestyle and the active interest expressed in small woodlot management are
clearly centered on sustainability values. Environmental education in the
context of these two interests could be highly successful.
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