EWP Other Publications (formerly: Miscellaneous EWP Publications)

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Open Access
1997 Ecosystem Workforce Project Curriculum : A practical learning and resource guide for forest/ecosystem workers
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, 1997-07) Ecosystem Workforce Development Curriculum Team
The goal of this curriculum is to create an educational resource that is practical, flexible, and helpful to hard-working, dedicated, lifelong learners in the forest/ecosystem management industry. We recognize that while forest workers have lots of skills to share, they must also be continually updating and diversifying their skills to be competitive and competent in this evolving industry. As such, we have created a curriculum that has three core topic areas: • Science for Ecosystem Restoration and Enhancement • Technical and Safety Knowledge for Ecosystem Restoration and Enhancement • Business Development and Management for Ecosystem Restoration and Enhancement
Open Access
Advancing Oregon’s sustainability agenda: the role of the ecosystem management industry in achieving sustainability--ecological, social and economic, April 26-27, 2001, Pendleton Oregon
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, 2001) University of Oregon. Ecosystem Workforce Program. Forum
The 2001 Ecosystem Workforce Program’s Annual Forum was held in Pendleton OR April 26th and 27th. The focus of this year’s forum was to share knowledge and examples of the ongoing efforts of the ecosystem management industry’s crucial role in advancing Oregon’s sustainability agenda. Over 70 practitioners and natural resource agency representatives took part in the two-day meeting. The following summaries offer a brief outline of those presentations and discussions which captured the forum’s focus. The concluding section is a report of suggestions forum participants offered as the next steps for the Ecosystem Workforce Taskforce to consider. The Task Force is a group convened by the Oregon Community and Economic Development Department to explore opportunities for linking sustainable natural resource goals and sustainable community objectives. Contact information for forum presenters is listed in this last section.
Open Access
An analysis of forest service and BLM contracting and contractor capacity in Lake County, Oregon: 1994-1999
(Sustainable Northwest, 2001-07) Kauffman, Marcus; Sustainable Northwest (Organization)
This document examines the federal contracting sector in Lake County, considering both the federal land management agencies’ demand for services and the capacity of local contracting firms to carry out the work. It is hoped that this information will aid the development of a highskill high-wage contracting sector in the county. This report analyzes contracts awarded by the Fremont National Forest and the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Lakeview District between 1994 and 1999. It also examines the capacity of 17 contracting firms in Lake County. This assessment seeks to: 1) quantify the Forest Service and BLM demand for contracted services in Lake County; 2) determine how much and what types of work were awarded to contracting firms located within Lake County and Bly from 1994-1999; 3) gauge the capacity of the local contractors to provide the services sought by the federal agencies; 4) offer recommendations to help increase the competitiveness of local firms and make federal contracts more attractive to local firms.
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
A community-based assessment of the developing ecosystem management industry in Coos and Curry Counties, Oregon
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon ; Labor Economic Action Project, 1999-07) Hedgepeth, Naida; Spencer, Charles
Watershed councils, resource managers and community economic development practitioners have a stake in exploring ways to link needed watershed restoration and on going stewardship with social and economic objectives. The Coos and Coquille Watershed Associations include social and economic health as part of their mission. The Labor Economic Action Project (LEAP) saw a local industry assessment project as a concrete way to help the watershed councils in the area while raising awareness of the opportunities and challenges for workers, contractors and resource managers. LEAP was formed in 1995 to bring labor and community advocates together to advocate for economic development strategies that focus on quality jobs for the long term. LEAP approached Oregon Economic Initiative, Inc. and Oregon Economic Development Department for assistance in mobilizing resources to conduct a survey of land managers, contractors and workers. The objective was to provide watershed councils, resource managers and community economic development practitioners in the Coos and Coquille watersheds with a snapshot of the current state of the developing ecosystem management industry, while building and/or strengthening local relationships needed to monitor social and economic parameters of forest and watershed assessment, treatment and monitoring. To do this assessment planners needed a basic roadmap of the market so as to know where to look. The initial work of the assessment project determined that the markets driving resource management employment results is a three-part system. Land managers determine work needed on the land base, contractors are secured to provide those services, and workers are hired to perform the work. LEAP gathered information on all three parts.
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
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
El Proyecto de Fuerza de Trabajo del Ecosistema de 1996 Programa de Estudio : Guia prãctico de aprendizaje y recursos para el trabajador del bosque/ecosistema
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, 1996-03)
Open Access
Forest Service procurement and timber sale contracting and the Stewardship End Results Demonstration Project: some basic definitions
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, 2002-03-27) Moseley, Cassandra
This document provides some basic definitions of timber sale and procurement authorities. It includes both existing authorities and authorities permitted for Stewardship End Results Demonstration Project [commonly known as the Stewardship Contracting Pilot Program]. These definitions are drawn from interviews and written interpretation and not from laws, court cases, or the Code of Federal Regulations, etc. unless cited. The details of many of these terms are interpreted differently and continue to evolve. Readers concerned with the legal specifics of each form should consult federal code, public laws, the Office of General Council, case law, and the Forest Service Manual. This document is divided into two major parts—the first focuses on existing authorities and the second on how the National Stewardship Pilot Projects modifies those authorities for pilot projects. Although these authorities are defined separately, many contracting innovations have involved combining various contracting mechanisms and structures.
Open Access
Grande Ronde Model Watershed Program economic assessment
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon ; Grande Ronde Model Watershed Program, 2001-08) Johnson, Michelle
The Grande Ronde Model Watershed Program (GRMWP), founded in 1992, was one of the first watershed councils in Oregon. It encompasses the Grande Ronde Basin, which is located in the northeast corner of Oregon. Since its formation, the GRMWP has focused most of its effort on watershed restoration projects, through funds from the Bonneville Power Administration. The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board also funds watershed projects in the Grande Ronde Basin. Many of these projects are coordinated through the GRMWP and have been approved by the GRMWP. The Grande Ronde Model Watershed Program is also interested in promoting economic stability. One of the goals in the Program’s charter states: “Protect the customs, culture, and economic stability of the citizens of the Basin, the Nez Perce and Umatilla Tribes, and the citizens of the United States of America.” Thus, the GRMWP has a vested interest in assessing how restoration projects in the Basin affect the local economy. This document details an economic assessment conducted on BPA and OWEB funded projects in the Grande Ronde Basin. The economic assessment examined the amount of income generated from these projects for local and non-local contractors and assessed whether materials were bought locally or outside of Union and Wallowa counties. It also characterized watershed restoration work by specific work types.
Open Access
A Guidebook for Multiparty Monitoring for Sustainable Natural Resource Management
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, 2002) University of Oregon. Ecosystem Workforce Program; Watershed Research and Training Center
This guidebook is designed to help communities and their agency partners monitor activities related to ecosystem management and community-based forestry, especially the National Fire Plan. This guidebooks offers suggestions about how to develop a multiparty monitoring program for: * Employment results (quality jobs) of restoration and maintenance of public lands * Utilization of by-products of ecosystem management * Grants and other investments * Ecological efforts
Open Access
The high-skill approach to ecosystem management: combining economic, ecological, and social objectives
(Public Knowledge, Inc. ; Labor Education and Research Center, University of Oregon, 1998-05) Brodsky, Gerry; Hallock, Margaret
The Northwest Forest Plan and the accompanying Northwest Economic Adjustment Initiative (NEAI) spawned many experiments in rural communities of the Pacific Northwest, experiments designed to benefit the residents and communities as well as achieve the ecological objectives of ecosystem management. This study examines five projects in California, Washington, and Oregon. Although created independently, these projects shared certain characteristics: they were designed to provide quality jobs for local residents, provide training for the workers, and explore new relationships and procurement arrangements with federal land management agencies. This report is a preliminary assessment of the impacts of these projects—-collectively dubbed the “high-skill” approach to ecosystem management—-on agencies, communities and the workforce.
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
Improving jobs, community, and the environment: lessons from the Ecosystem Workforce Project
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, 1998-09) University of Oregon. Labor Education and Research Center
In the Pacific Northwest, the Jobs in the Woods (JITW) program launched several experiments and projects in communities to provide quality jobs for local residents as part of the restoration efforts. This study examines a small sample of JITW projects that followed a “high-skill” approach to the restoration work. The underlying assumptions of this approach are that well-trained workers are a critical component of the emerging work necessary to restore watershed and steward our ecosystems, and that quality jobs are necessary for healthy communities. Ecosystem management, as defined here, is a collaborative process that strives to achieve economic and social as well as ecological objectives. The central focus of this research is to document the impacts of the high-skill approach, specifically to assess the benefits and impacts on agencies, communities, and the ecosystem itself. The intent is to glean lessons from these projects that can help inform the ongoing policy debate on how we manage our ecosystems, the role of community organizations, and the practice of designing and procuring ecosystem work. The research was based on interviews with participants in the five projects. In the absence of hard data, we sought consensus, within and across projects, on the fundamental issues of training and impacts on agencies. Our results concentrate on savings and other impacts on the agencies, costs of providing training, and, to a lesser extent, impacts on the watershed itself. Because of the small scale of the experiments, we were unable to test the presumed benefits of a stable and trained workforce to the community.
Open Access
Innovative Jobs-in-the-Woods Projects
(Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, 1996) Taylor, Cynthia H.
On April 2, 1993, President Clinton convened the Forest Summit in Portland, Oregon to learn first hand about the environmental, social and economic ramifications of changes in federal forest management in the Pacific Northwest. Out of this effort arose the Northwest Economic Adjustment Initiative (NEAI). The NEAI aims to help workers, businesses, communities, and tribes that have relied on a forest products - based economy to adjust to changing economic conditions. The NEAT addresses four program areas of worker/community assistance: workers and families, business and industry, communities and infrastructure, ecosystem investment. The Ecosystem Investment Team (EIT) was formed to address the ecosystem investment program area. Its mission is to link watershed restoration activities on federal and non-federal lands to dislocated workers and their families and to businesses in affected communities in order to improve social, economic, and environmental outcomes. Congress asserted that, under the ecosystem investment program, four federal agencies would redirect approximately $27 million in 1994 to a new program called Jobs in the Woods (JITW). JITW aims to link priority watershed restoration work with family-wage jobs for dislocated workers in timber-dependent communities.
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
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
Northwest Forest Plan-- The First Ten Years (1994-2003): Procurement contracting in the affected counties of the Northwest Forest Plan: 12 Years of Change
(USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, 2006-01) Moseley, Cassandra; Pacific Northwest Research Station (Portland, Or.)
As part of the 10-year socioeconomic monitoring of the Northwest Forest Plan, this report evaluates changes in Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) procurement contracting between 1990 and 2002 by asking, (1) How much and what kind of work did the Forest Service and BLM contract during this period, and (2) who received economic benefits from this procurement contracting? Procurement contracting is a particular focus of the socioeconomic monitoring because one expectation of the Northwest Forest Plan was that the Forest Service and BLM would create high-skill, high-wage private sector jobs in public land restoration through contracting to partially offset job losses in timber production, harvesting, and processing. This report finds that, to the contrary, the Forest Service reduced its contracting of land management activities on national forests in the Northwest Forest Plan area from a high of $103 million in 1991 to a low of $33 million in 2002. By contrast, BLM spending was fairly constant at just under $20 million annually. Both the Forest Service and the BLM changed the type of activities that they contracted, shifting from activities associated with intensive forest management such as tree planting in clearcuts to activities associated with ecosystem management. Contractors located near national forests and BLM lands and rural communities captured a similar proportion of contracts in both the earlier and later parts of the study period. However, the significant decline in Forest Service contract spending resulted in considerable decline in the amount of money flowing to rural communities through contracting. Thus, it is unlikely that federal land management contracting created a net increase in jobs to replace jobs lost in mills and logging operations in public lands communities.
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).