United States Department of Agriculture

Socioeconomic Monitoring Results Volume Iii: Rural Communities and Economies United States Department of Agriculture

Publisher Marketing: This volume focuses on the Northwest Forest Plan (the Plan) record of decision (ROD) evaluation question, Are local communities and economies experiencing positive or negative changes that may be associated with federal forest management? It also assesses how well two of the Plan's socioeconomic goals were met during the first decade: (1) to maintain the stability of local and regional economies on a predictable, long-term basis; and, (2) where timber sales cannot proceed, to assist with long-term economic development and diversification to minimize adverse effects associated with job loss. The monitoring team examined trends in socioeconomic benefits from federal forest lands between the early 1990s and the early 2000s, and the ways in which the Plan may have contributed to these trends. The team also examined socioeconomic mitigation measures designed to offset some of the adverse effects of cutbacks in federal timber harvest, how effective they were, and why they sometimes were not. In addition, we examined social and economic change in Plan-area communities at the regional scale and in a sample of 12 forest-based communities to identify links between Plan implementation, the mitigation measures, and community change.