Forest communities and the Northwest Forest Plan: what socioeconomic monitoring can tell us.

Abstract

The Northwest Forest Plan (the Plan) was designed to balance protection of older forest ecosystems with mitigation of impacts on rural communities and economies. It was implemented by using an adaptive management approach that featured an interagency monitoring program. This program included socioeconomic monitoring—the systematic observation and measurement of a set of social and economic indicators over time—to evaluate the effects of the Plan on forest communities. Socioeconomic goals of the Plan included producing predictable levels of timber and nontimber resources, maintaining the stability of local and regional economies, assisting with long-term economic development and diversification, promoting collaboration in forest management, and protecting forest values associated with aquatic and older forest ecosystems.

Citation

Thompson, Jonathan. 2007. Forest communities and the Northwest Forest Plan: what socioeconomic monitoring can tell us. Science Findings 95. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 5 p