EWP Other Publications (formerly: Miscellaneous EWP Publications)

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Open Access
Communication Audit: Oakridge Air
(Center for Science Communication Research, School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon, 2023-05) Smith, Hollie; Shafer, Autumn
Oakridge Air serves the communities of Oakridge and Westfir and promotes healthy air quality through individual and community resources. Oakridge Air, which is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, has five program areas: home heating upgrades, community firewood, school education, cleaner indoor air, and code enforcement. Oakridge Air uses several communication strategies to engage community members in these programs. This audit provides an overview of Oakridge Air’s communication engagement and messaging strategy, focusing on messaging from 2021-2022, to provide strategic communication recommendations for future work. This audit focuses primarily on the Oakridge Air Communication Plan and messaging templates, community newsletters, text messaging service, Oakridge Air’s Facebook page, and Oakridge Air’s website. The newsletters and text messaging service have been essential and valued communication tools with substantial engagement growth spurred by major wildfire smoke events in 2022. The Facebook page and website are likely one of the first channels community members use to begin engaging with Oakridge Air. The communication plan and messaging templates provide internal guidance for message design and delivery. Given the increased engagement with Oakridge Air, there is an opportunity to leverage the positive experience and community-supported impact of these communication efforts to motivate more understanding of air quality and wildfire smoke effects along with short and long-term actions to mitigate risk and impacts.
Open Access
OAKRIDGE CEDAR CREEK FIRE 2022 INTERNAL AFTER ACTION REPORT
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, 2023-01) Smith, Hollie; Huber-Stearns, Heidi; Serio, Naomi
An After Action Review workshop was facilitated on Monday, December 5, 2022 for City of Oakridge, Lane County staff, and Oakridge community members who participated in the emergency responses in Oakridge for wildfire evacuation and hazardous air quality related to the Cedar Creek Fire (see timeline for details). Oakridge had 37 days from August-October 2022 when air quality was unhealthy for sensitive groups (AQI of 101-150). In an effort to learn from this unprecedented and extended event, Southern Willamette Forest Collaboratives partnered with researchers at the University of Oregon to conduct this internal After Action Review. The review consisted of one workshop that lasted 2 hours and was broken up into two sessions: 1) evacuation and 2) smoke and air quality. For evacuation, participants noted that several components of the evacuation went well, primarily related to communication timing and modes, early planning, and the use of public resources (e.g., buses). Key areas for evacuation improvement include staffing capacity, establishing an Emergency Operation Center (EOC), and improving communication and emergency planning for multiple scenarios (with and without electricity or external funding and support). For smoke and air quality, participants noted the success of the air purifier distribution program, the installation of Purple Air sensors, a field trip for school children, and strong communication about cleaner air spaces. The key areas for improvement include communication and emergency planning for multiple scenarios, streamlining (and improving the accessibility of) the purifier screening criteria and resource availability, and providing additional support for schools. The remainder of this report is divided into: 1) summarized/overall recommendations from both events; 2) Evacuation Timeline; 3) Smoke Response Timeline; and 4) more information from the discussions from each session and the resulting recommendations.
Open Access
Lakeview Stewardship Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project : ecological, social, and economic monitoring report : 2012-2019
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, 2021) Olszewski, Julia; Ellison, Autumn
This report represents an analysis of ecological, social, and economic monitoring data for restoration activities conducted by the Lakeview Stewardship Group (LSG) from 2012 to 2019. The treatments analyzed here include commercial thinning, pre-commercial thinning, aspen release, stream enhancements, and prescribed/wildland fire. The socioeconomic monitoring questions analyze the impact that restoration treatments have for the local economy and beyond while considering the socioeconomic context and trends of the area. The results, recommendations, and lessons learned are presented here for the benefit of all collaborative members, and will be used to inform subsequent restoration activities and monitoring efforts.
Open Access
Rural youth futures : survey results
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, 2020)
As rural communities face changes in local economies, populations, and workforce needs, what does the next generation of residents and workers value and want? That question was the motivation for the Rural Youth Futures project. Researchers and extension agents from several universities joined forces with local non-profits to find out what middle and high schoolers think in two forest-dependent regions: Coos County in Oregon and Piscataquis/Northern Somerset Counties in Maine. This is one in a series of fact sheets designed to present summary information to each participating school and county about the perceptions and aspirations of local youth.
Open Access
Methods and data appendices for socioeconomic monitoring of nonmetropolitan communities following 25 years of the Northwest Forest Plan (1994–2018).
(U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 2020) Coughlan, Michael R.; Rhodeland, Amelia; Huber-Stearns, Heidi
Open Access
Iconic places of the USDA Forest Service
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, 2019)
The purpose of this document is to introduce 46 of the Forest Service’s iconic places and to provide basic information about the values they protect and their histories. These places are found in over 40 different national forests in all nine Forest Service regions, ranging in size from less than 5,000acres to over 2 million acres. Designation of these iconic places began in the early 1960s to as recently as 2016. As such, these places represent over five decades of transitions in public land values, political administrations, and agency direction, as well as and other social, cultural, economic and ecological change. Through these transitions, the iconic places of the Forest Service have continued to expand in number, with their unique qualities and resources meriting special management or protection. The special areas included in this project are diverse in their type, size, designated values, and history. Each type of designation comprises distinct guidelines, intents, policies, and place-specific management objectives. This document provides a baseline understanding of these iconic places for agency personnel as well as the interested public, and can serve as a resource for future research or exploration into these areas.
Open Access
Rural geography -- rural development : an examination of agriculture, policy and planning, and community in rural areas
(Rural Development Institute, Brandon University, 2013) Ramsey, Doug, 1965-; Abrams, Jesse; Clark, Jill K.; Evans, Nick (Professor of agricultural geography)
Every four years since 1991, a small group of rural geographers from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, with guests from Ireland and Australia, have met to present their latest ideas and research results. These meetings have also contributed to the development of a community of scholars interested in wide-ranging rural issues. . . . The intention of the 2011 meeting was to continue with the theme of sustainable rural change but with a focus on development, including identifying policies and programs used by agricultural sectors, and communities to respond to restructuring. Thus, while there was overlap, we have placed papers into one of three categories: ‘agriculture’, ‘policy and planning’, and ‘community’. The following overview provides a description of the work included in each theme.
Open Access
Reflexive gentrification of working lands in the American West : contesting the 'Middle Landscape'
(Rural Development Institute, Brandon University, 2013) Abrams, Jesse; Bliss, John Caswell; Gosnell, Hannah
The scenic rural landscape of Wallowa County, Oregon has attracted attention from affluent urban populations who value the physical setting and sense of rural authenticity of this remote setting. Since at least the 1990s, Wallowa County has experienced a wave of real estate investment by amenity-oriented populations, some of whom relocated permanently to the county and some of whom visit their properties only seasonally. Here, we apply the insights of rural gentrification scholarship to questions of land use and management. Specifically, we draw upon recent work on actor-oriented gentrification to highlight the ways in which land use is implicated in the reflexive processes of place (re)creation by gentrifier populations. In this case, many landowner-gentrifiers were acutely aware of their potential role in transforming the local landscape in ways which diminish local authenticity. An emergent discourse of “working lands” served as potential common ground for the imaginaries of both gentrifier and long-term resident populations. At the same time, landowner-gentrifiers instituted subtle but significant changes to land use practices in an attempt to reconcile their interests in consumption and protection with their interests in maintaining more traditional productivist practices. We interpret the working lands discourse as a manifestation of Leo Marx’s concept of the “middle landscape,” situated between the extremes of unpeopled wilderness and runaway capitalist production.
Open Access
Qualitative Interview Guide for the Research Project “Community-Based Organizations, Social Networks, and Conservation: Strategies for Rural Economic Development in the West”
(University of Oregon, 2012-05) Moseley, Cassandra
This file contains the semi-structured interview protocols used to guide qualitative interviews associated with the research project “Community-based organizations, social networks, and conservation: strategies for rural economic development in the West.” The project was designed to understand the contributions to economic development made by a particular class of rural non-governmental associations referred to as community-based organizations (CBOs).
Open Access
Economic development and sustainable forest stewardship in the Dry Forest Zone : a mid-term report
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, 2012) Davis, Emily Jane
The Dry Forest Zone (DFZ) project is a fiveyear collaborative effort to foster an integrated approach to forest stewardship and economic development in eastern Oregon and northern California. The DFZ project invests in enhancing a range of capacities for community-based natural resource management at multiple scales. By working simultaneously at different geographic, social and institutional levels, the DFZ project creates and connects enabling conditions for transformative change. At the mid-point of this project, the DFZ team and partners have achieved important gains and learned valuable lessons.
Open Access
Socioeconomic assessment of Forest Service American Recovery and Reinvestment Act projects : eight case studies
(U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, 2011-05) Charnley, Susan; Jakes, Pamela J.; Schelhas, John; Burns, Samuel Alexander; Dietrich, James E.; Davis, Emily Jane; Moseley, Cassandra; Kershner, Jessica M.; Mattor, Katherine; Morse, Wayde; Sturtevant, Victoria Elmore, 1950-; Wilson, Thurman; Pacific Northwest Research Station (Portland, Or.)
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 aimed to create jobs and jumpstart the economy while addressing the Nation’s social and environmental needs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, received $1.15 billion in recovery funding to support projects in wildland fire management, capital improvement and maintenance, and biomass utilization. This volume contains eight individual case-study reports that describe how Forest Service economic recovery projects from around the United States are contributing to socioeconomic well-being in rural communities and investigates how forest restoration, conservation, and rural community development goals can be linked to promote healthy forests and healthy communities. Research findings demonstrate that these projects met several goals of the act: (1) preserve and create jobs and stimulate economic recovery; (2) assist those most impacted by the recession; and (3) invest in transportation, environmental protection, and other infrastructure for long-term economic benefits. A companion synthesis report contains key findings and lessons learned by comparing the eight case studies presented here.
Open Access
The State of the Dry Forest Zone and its Communities
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, 2010-04) Davis, Emily Jane; Moseley, Cassandra; Nielsen-Pincus, Max; Abrams, Jesse; Brady, Cullen; Christoffersen, Nils; Davis, Chad; Enzer, Maia J.; Gordon, Josef; Goulette, Nick; Jungwirth, Lynn; Jungwirth, Jim; Kauffman, Marcus; McCarthy, Tyler; Shannon, Patrick; Sundstrom, Shiloh
The Dry Forest Zone is a region of eastern Oregon and northern California with challenging market conditions and high levels of poverty and unemployment. However, local entrepreneurship, collaboration, and commitment to integrated economic development and natural resource management in the zone are strong. In the past decade, the scope of community-based nonprofits, integrated biomass utilization businesses, and new networks has increased, fostering sustainable forest stewardship at an increasingly regional scale. The geography and climate of the zone support dry forests of pine and mixed conifer with fire regimes that are departed from their historical range of variability. These forests are prone to wildfire hazards and in need of active management to restore more diverse and variable-aged structures. As 68 percent of the land in the zone is public, the communities of this region rely on the economic and ecological productivity of these federal forests. The number of sawmills that once provided high levels of primary processing capacity and employment has shrunk to nine mills in the zone. More forest-related employment is now forestry support work, including activities such as firefighting, pest control, and thinning. Poverty and unemployment have increased, with estimated poverty levels in 2007 of over 15 percent in ten of the fifteen counties. Through the Dry Forest Zone project, we have an opportunity to build on the local strengths of this region and overcome these ecological and socioeconomic challenges.
Open Access
The social geography of southern Wyoming : important places, development, and natural resource management
(Nature Conservancy (U.S.). Wyoming Chapter, 2010) Pocewicz, Amy Lynne; Schnitzer, Russell; Nielsen-Pincus, Max
In Wyoming, we know where to find natural resources. We can follow pronghorns, elk and deer on their seasonal migrations. But we have not had the same information about which places people care about and why. We created social maps for 3 counties and describe that process in this report. People agreed on important places and where development should occur. . . . We surveyed residents of Albany, Carbon, and Sweetwater counties in 2010. Most participants reported that fish and wildlife habitat, availability of water, and open spaces and scenic views are extremely or very important to them.
Open Access
Strategies for Supporting Frontline Collaboration: Lessons from Stewardship Contracting
(IBM Center for The Business of Government, 2010) Moseley, Cassandra
An agency’s culture, policies, procedures, and incentives can make it either easier or more difficult for field staff to collaborate effectively. There are strategies that agency and nongovernmental leaders can use to encourage collaboration. This report offers four strategies for collaboration based on the experiences of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Both agencies have authorities, called “stewardship contracting,” which they used to foster collaboration at the front line in their agencies. Although stewardship contracting is a set of authorities particular to the U.S. Forest Service and BLM, much of the collaboration that these two agencies have undertaken around stewardship contracting did not require any special authority. The two agencies have used stewardship contracting as a vehicle to develop a new direction and support for collaborative approaches to federal land management.
Open Access
Conventional Wisdoms of Woody Biomass Utilization
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, 2009) Becker, Dennis R.; Abbas, Dalia; Halvorsen, Kathleen E.; Jakes, Pamela J.; McCaffrey, Sarah; Moseley, Cassandra
Despite efforts to increase biomass utilization, uncertainty exists regarding the characteristics necessary to stimulate biomass utilization, effectiveness of agency and local efforts, and the role of partnerships in building the types of capacity necessary to expedite biomass removal. The purpose of this study is to identify and assess utilization challenges in different parts of the United States. The information collected through case studies is used to address persistent conventional wisdoms to biomass utilization that may help land managers better accomplish project objectives through informed planning and implementation. It may also be used to illuminate particular barriers to biomass utilization that can be addressed through policy development at the local, state, or national level.
Open Access
Northwest Forest Plan—The First 10 Years (1994–2003): Socioeconomic Monitoring of the Mount Hood National Forest and Three Local Communities
(USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, 2007-05) Kay, William M.; Donoghue, Ellen M. (Ellen Mary); Charnley, Susan; Moseley, Cassandra; Pacific Northwest Research Station (Portland, Or.)
This report examines socioeconomic changes that took place between 1990 and 2003 on and around lands managed by the Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon to assess the effects of the Northwest Forest Plan (the Plan) on rural economies and communities there. Three case communities were studied: the Greater Estacada Area, the Upper Hood River Valley, and the Villages of Mount Hood from Brightwood to Rhododendron. The report characterizes the region and its history, discusses management changes on the forest under the Plan and how they were perceived, describes socioeconomic change in the communities and how they were linked to the Plan, and evaluates how well Plan socioeconomic goals were met by the Mount Hood National Forest.
Open Access
People, Fire, and Forests: A Synthesis of Wildfire Social Science
(Corvallis: OSU Press, 2007) Daniel, Terry C.; Carroll, Matthew S. (Matthew Stephen); Moseley, Cassandra
Years of drought and decades of aggressive fire exclusion have left North American forests at high risk for catastrophic fires. Forest settings are a magnet for recreation and for rapidly growing residential development--putting an increasing number of citizens and their property into the path of wildfires. To be effective, wildfire risk management must be informed by science--but that requires more than just knowledge about the physical and biological dynamics of fire and forest ecosystems. Social values, socioeconomic factors, demographic trends, institutional arrangements, and human behavior must also be taken into consideration by the agencies and individuals responsible for wildland fire decision making. The first book of its kind to integrate the social science literature on the human dimensions of wildfire, People, Fire, and Forests reviews current studies from this broad, interdisciplinary field and synthesizes them into a rich body of knowledge with practical management implications. Sections in the book cover such topics as public perception of wildfire risk, acceptability of fire management policies, and community impacts of wildfire. Designed to make relevant social science information more available and useful to wildfire risk managers and policy makers, as well as to scholars and students, People, Fire, and Forests explores the theoretical and methodological issues surrounding human interactions with wildfire and describes the practical implications of this research.
Open Access
Northwest Forest Plan—the first 10 years (1994-2003): Socioeconomic Monitoring of the Olympic National Forest and Three Local Communities
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon ; USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, 2006-07) Buttolph, Lita P.; Kay, William M.; Charnley, Susan; Moseley, Cassandra; Donoghue, Ellen M. (Ellen Mary)
This report examines socioeconomic changes that occurred between 1990 and 2000 associated with implementation of the Northwest Forest Plan (the Plan) in the Olympic National Forest in western Washington. We used a combination of quantitative data from the U.S. census and the USDA Forest Service, historical documents, and interviews from Forest Service employees and members of three case study communities—Quilcene, the Lake Quinault area, and the Quinault Indian Nation. We explore how the Plan affected the flow of socioeconomic benefits associated with the Olympic National Forest, such as the production of forest commodities and forest-based recreation, agency jobs, procurement contract work for ecosystem management activities, grants for community economic assistance, payments to county governments, and opportunities for collaborative forest management. The greatest change in socioeconomic benefits derived from the forest was the curtailment of timber harvest activities. This not only affected timber industry jobs in local communities, but also resulted in declining agency budgets and staff reductions. Mitigation efforts varied. Ecosystem management contracts declined and shifted from labor-intensive to equipment-intensive activities, with about half of all contractors from the Olympic Peninsula. Economic assistance grants benefited communities that had the staff and resources to develop projects and apply for monies, but provided little benefit to communities without those resources. Payments to counties served as an important source of revenue for rural schools and roads. We also examine socioeconomic changes that occurred in the case study communities, and the influence of forest management policy on these changes. Between 1990 and 2000 all three communities showed a decrease in population, an increase in median age, a decline in timber industry-related employment, and an increase in service-industry and government jobs. Quilcene’s proximity to the larger urban centers has attracted professional and service industry workers that commute to larger economic hubs. Lake Quinault area residents are increasingly turning to tourism, and its growing Latino population works in the cedar shake and floral greens industries. For the Quinault Indian Nation, employment in tribal government and its casino has helped offset job losses in the fishing and timber industries. Many changes observed in the communities were a result of the prior restructuring of the forest products industry, national economic trends, and demographic shifts. However, for Quilcene and Lake Quinault, which were highly dependent on the national forest for timber and served as Forest Service district headquarters, the loss of timber industry and Forest Service jobs associated with the Plan led to substantial job losses and crises in the economic and social capital of these communities.
Open Access
Northwest Forest Plan—The First 10 Years (1994–2003): Socioeconomic Monitoring of Coos Bay District and Three Local Communities
(USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, 2006-07) McLain, Rebecca J. (Rebecca Jean); Tobe, Lisa; Charnley, Susan; Donoghue, Ellen M. (Ellen Mary); Moseley, Cassandra; Pacific Northwest Research Station (Portland, Or.)
This case study examines the socioeconomic changes that took place between 1990 and 2000 in and around lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Coos Bay District in southwestern Oregon for purposes of assessing the effects of the Northwest Forest Plan (the Plan) on rural economies and communities in the Coos Bay region. The case study included an analysis of changes in the district’s programs, as well as socioeconomic changes that occurred within the communities of Coos Bay, Myrtle Point, and Reedsport. Data were gathered during 2003 and 2004 from multiple sources including U.S. census databases, county and state criminal justice and economic development databases, and BLM annual reports. Interviews with BLM employees and community residents provided additional insights on how the Plan affected local socioeconomic conditions and the district’s interactions with local communities. The study indicates that by the time the record of decision for the Plan was signed, the Coos Bay region’s timber sector had already lost a substantial portion of the wood products processing capacity and employment opportunities. Additionally, the changes in socioeconomic conditions that took place in the mid and late 1990s—an outflow of younger workers, inmigration of older workers and retirees, school closures, increased levels of educational attainment, declines in manufacturing sectors, and expansion of the services sector—are changes that took place during the same period in rural communities across much of the Western United States. It is thus likely that the types of overall socioeconomic changes observed in the Coos Bay region between 1990 and 2004 would have occurred with or without the Plan. Owing to legal challenges, the Coos Bay District was unable to provide a steady and predictable supply of timber from 1994 onward. District foresters shifted their focus toward developing thinning techniques for density management of stands less than 80 years old. Barring legal action, sales from these younger stands will enable the district to provide a predictable supply of smaller diameter timber in future years. In the post-Plan years, the Coos Bay District also significantly expanded its capacity to carry out multiple-use land management. It played a key role in community-based watershed restoration and recreation and tourism development efforts. As a result, the district is now in a much better position to provide the public, including residents of local communities, with a broad array of forest values and opportunities (i.e., improved fish habitat, more recreation sites, more cultural sites, etc.). Key factors in the success of post-Plan community-district partnerships included ongoing and substantial support from upper level leadership, a stable district budget (in marked contrast to the budget declines in neighboring national forests), and a relatively stable staffing level (in contrast to the downsizing that occurred in neighboring national forests).
Open Access
Northwest Forest Plan—The First 10 Years (1994–2003): Socioeconomic Monitoring Results
(USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, 2006-04) Charnley, Susan; Donoghue, Ellen M. (Ellen Mary); Stuart, Claudia; Dillingham, Candace; Buttolph, Lita P.; Kay, William M.; McLain, Rebecca J. (Rebecca Jean); Moseley, Cassandra; Phillips, Richard P.; Tobe, Lisa; Pacific Northwest Research Station (Portland, Or.)
The socioeconomic monitoring report addresses two evaluation questions posed in the Northwest Forest Plan (the Plan) Record of Decision and assesses progress in meeting five Plan socioeconomic goals. Volume I of the report contains key findings. Volume II addresses the question, Are predictable levels of timber and nontimber resources available and being produced? It also evaluates progress in meeting the goal of producing a predictable level of timber sales, special forest products, livestock grazing, minerals, and recreation opportunities. The focus of volume III is the evaluation question, Are local communities and economies experiencing positive or negative changes that may be associated with federal forest management? Two Plan goals are also assessed in volume III: (1) to maintain the stability of local and regional economies on a predictable, long-term basis and, (2) to assist with long-term economic development and diversification to minimize adverse impacts associated with the loss of timber jobs. Progress in meeting another Plan goal—to promote agency-citizen collaboration in forest management—is evaluated in volume IV. Volume V reports on trends in public values regarding forest management in the Pacific Northwest over the past decade, community views of how well the forest values and environmental qualities associated with late-successional, old-growth, and aquatic ecosystems have been protected under the Plan (a fifth Plan goal), and issues and concerns relating to forest management under the Plan expressed by community members. Volume VI provides a history of the Northwest Forest Plan socioeconomic monitoring program and a discussion of potential directions for the program.