When the 1993 Northwest Forest Plan reduced timber
production in California, Washington and Oregon, the Clinton
administration began the “Jobs in the Woods’ program to retrain
timber workers. It sounded like a great idea: Former loggers would
work with the Forest Service and other agencies to close abandoned
roads and restore streams for native fish, gaining marketable
skills they could use in the future. But was the $32 million
program worthwhile? The Klamath Forest Alliance, an Etna,
Calif.-based group founded in 1989, has looked at 20 of
California’s 1995 retraining projects. While recognizing the
program’s economic benefits to former timber workers, the group’s
report criticizes the Forest Service for allowing timber politics,
not science, to influence the agency’s choice of restoration
projects. The group says that most of the maintenance work was done
in watersheds slated for timber sales, not in areas where water
quality and wildlife are threatened by landslides. The 40-page
report by Joan Reiss is thorough but jargon-filled – be prepared to
wade through acronyms. A free copy is available from the Klamath
Forest Alliance, Box 820, Etna, CA 96027 (530/467-5405); e-mail to
klamath@sisqtel.net.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Program gets a C.
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