A Social and Economic Monitoring Plan and Baseline Assessment of the USDA Forest Service’s Stewardship Program: 2014-2023

Abstract

This report presents a comprehensive social and economic monitoring plan and baseline assessment of the USDA Forest Service’s stewardship contracting program from 2014 to 2023. Stewardship contracting is a flexible tool that enables the Forest Service to achieve land management goals while working with non-federal partners and supporting local communities. The Ecosystem Workforce Program (EWP) at the University of Oregon, in partnership with the Forest Service, developed a national-level monitoring framework to evaluate the program’s effectiveness through ten key questions related to management outcomes, economic impacts, community engagement, and administrative efficiency. Using secondary data from Forest Service databases—including FACTS, TIM, PALS, and FPDS—the report analyzes over 31,000 stewardship activities and$560 million in timber sales. Findings show that most contracts were awarded to local or somewhat local businesses, and litigation rates for stewardship-related NEPA decisions were low. The program engaged over 400 unique entities, with nonprofits being the most common partners, supported over 43,000 jobs, and leveraged federal funds with significant partner contributions. While six monitoring questions were addressed using existing data, four require future primary data collection to assess community participation, agency engagement, infrastructure investment, and efficiency. The report proposes a Phase 2 monitoring strategy including surveys, interviews, and case studies, to fill these gaps and enhance understanding of stewardship contracting’s impacts. Overall, the baseline assessment confirms that stewardship contracting supports forest restoration and rural development goals. The proposed monitoring framework offers a replicable model for evaluating Forest Service use of stewardship contracting at the national level.