Logging
The demand for lumber during & after WW2 triggered the beginning of the local logging & saw milling industry. During the 40 plus years there was a thriving logging industry, there were at least 13 local sawmills in operation. Pine Grove was a boom town and service hub for the surrounding area and had at one time two grocery stores, 2 gas stations and a school. One of the earliest mills was a water powered mill on Clear Creek which supplied lumber to some of the areas first homesteaders. There was also a steam mill powered completely by steam. The trend over time was in favor of larger more efficient sawmills. In the late 1940s the Forest Service implemented a new long term management plan which immediately changed the local timber industry. Today tree plantations immediately replace harvested timber, irrigation water is in good supply and wildlife populations have increased.
