What’s Unique about Grangeville?
Grangeville is surrounded by acres of federal forest ground, the largest being the Nez Perce National Forest. We are the gateway to three beautiful wilderness areas: The Frank Church River of No Return, The Seven Devils Wilderness and The Gospel Hump Wilderness Area. We have access to numerous rivers (Salmon, Lochsa, Clearwater and Selway) with some of the best white water rafting and fly fishing in the country. We have beautiful landscapes, a small ski resort (Snowhaven), a lumbermill (Bennett Forest Industries) and miles of rich farmland.
These are all attributes we can capitalize on…it’s beautiful. The burden of it all is that “beauty can only take us so far”. We live in the wilderness. We are isolated. That works o.k. for the lumbermill and farming, but for other industries, we are a long way from anywhere. We lack infrastucture and connectivity for new industries to be able to locate here. The railroad is gone, so shipping has become more costly. Our local economy is struggling, with several vacant storefronts and not nearly the commerce that was here even ten years ago.
So…our challenge will be how do we preserve this beautiful place, develop additional industry and thrive at the same time?!?