Conservation-based development programs have sought to create economic opportunities for people negatively impacted by biological diversity protection. The USDA Forest Service, for example, developed policies and programs to create contracting opportunities for local communities to restore public lands to replace jobs lost from reduced timber harvest. This article examines 12 years of Forest Service land management contracting in western Oregon, Washington, and northern California to evaluate if contractors located in communities near national forests have been awarded more land management contracts and contract value over time. We find that land management contracting spending has declined dramatically and, once we control for intervening factors, we find that local contractors have received a smaller proportion of land management contracts over time.
As logging employment continues to decline and forestry service employment grows, as they have over the past several decades, it is increasingly important to understand the relative quality of jobs in these two sectors. This study compares wages and job durability of loggers and forestry service workers in Oregon using unemployment insurance data. Using multiple wage measures (hourly, annual, and outside wages) and multiple job durability measures (employer changes, outside employment, seasonality, quarterly hours worked, and retention), this study finds that loggers typically earn more and have more durable jobs than forestry service workers.
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