Community Development Journal 34:47-57
© 1999 Community Development Journal and Oxford University Press
research-article |
Linking forest employment and forest ecosystem objectives in the Pacific Northwest
Charles Spencer is Co-ordinator of the Ecosystem Workforce Project Labor Education and Research Center, University of Oregon.
Address for correspondence: Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA.
Rural forest communities in the US Pacific Northwest have seen their economic base disappear with the technological change and reduced timber supply in the forest products industry. Some progress has been made in diversifying local economies, but rural communities are still lagging. Rural communities and workers have a great stake in assuring that future resource jobs provide them with a way to make a living and stay connected to the land base. However, quality jobs providing good compensation, accepted skill standards and career opportunities are not likely to emerge without major intervention and advocacy. This paper examines one attempt to create quality resource jobs in the field of ecosystem management, the Ecosystem Workforce Project (EWP). EWP is a three-year action research project in Western Oregon that provides community-based training in ecosystem management to rural workers. I first explore the multiple obstacles to implementing a quality job path to ecosystem management, including the structure and behavior of the forestry services industry, the policies and organizational culture of the public land management agencies (the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management), and the historic lack of community voice in resource management decisions. I then describe the EWP. And finally I draw lessons from the experience for using community-based workforce development projects as a pathway towards systematic change.