The Northwest Forest Plan, 30 years of social and economic change in rural forest-based communities (1994-2024): Chapter 11: Postscript

Abstract

In this report, we present social and economic monitoring results for eight rural, forest-based communities within the NWFP area. Chapter 1 presents background and methods for the NWFP 30-year social and economic monitoring. Chapter 2 presents a synthesis of case study results and comparison of the communities. Chapters 3 through 10 present results from individual case studies. Individual case study chapters each address the over-arching monitoring question by presenting: (1) the historical trajectory and current state of social and economic well-being in the case study communities, and (2) the 2024 status and trends of the relationship between communities and federal forest management.We extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to community members, Forest Service employees, and timber industry representatives who participated in interviews. Thank you to our University of Oregon undergraduate student research assistants for transcript and citation cleaning (Myriah Hodgson, Emily Terry, Ruby Weinkle Matts, Sylvie Johnson, Marissa Sorlie), internet research and data collection (Myriah Hodgson, Ruby Weinkle Matts, Makena Adams), proofreading (Emily Terry, Ruby Weinkle Matts, Marissa Sorlie), GIS data and map drafting (Sylvie Johnson), and figure design (Marissa Sorlie). External peer review was provided by Susan Charnley, Pacific Northwest Research Station; Nick Goulette, The Watershed Research and Training Center; Gabe Kohler, Forest Stewards Guild; Thomas Timberlake, USDA Forest Service; and Jeff Vance Martin, Pacific Southwest Research Station. This work was supported by USDA Forest Service agreement number 23-CS-11062756-039. Historical photos courtesy of public domain. Upper Hood River Valley case study historical photos courtesy of The History Museum of Hood River County (verbal permission obtained on March 20, 2026). For a complete list of citations for historical photos found in this document, please see Appendix E. All other photographs courtesy of Michael R. Coughlan, Heidi Huber-Stearns, Julia Sizek, or public domain. Maps and figure design by Stephanie Schneider. Document layout and design by Sean Hamling, Josie Paik, and Marissa Sorlie