Richard Kenton and Sandy Roth have spent three decades building their native plant nursery in Cove, a small town 20 minutes east of La Grande in Union County.

The married couple operates Plant Works LLC, where they grow willows, cottonwood, dogwood and just about any plants native to their region of northeast Oregon. Federal agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife regularly contract with them to raise plants for habitat restoration and wildfire recovery projects.

Their business relies on timely payments from those federal agencies, but with the federal government shut down since Oct. 1, a $40,000 payment they were expected to get on Oct. 28 is on hold — a delay that could be devastating for a small business like theirs.

“We’re j

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