A Case Study for the Inland Northwest Economic Adjustment Strategy
County Population 7,250
Mill closures cost 270 jobs, timber harvest down 90%
Communities pursuing downtown and industrial site development
Local strategy: Enterprise Facilitation program has assisted 87 entrepreneurs
An innovative local company, ADC, has developed a dam rebuilding plan that addresses environmental, wildlife, agricultural and infrastructure needs
Background
Wallowa County in the far northeast corner of Oregon is home to the renowned Hell's Canyon, scenic Wallowa Lake and the pristine Eagle Cap Wilderness. Bordered by both Washington and Idaho, the area is often referred to as "the little Switzerland of America."
The county covers more than 3,000 square miles inhabited by just 7,250 residents, nearly half of whom are scattered throughout the county in unincorporated communities.
The county is rural and isolated. Its largest community, the City of Enterprise, is 75 miles from Interstate 84 on a winding, two-lane highway. The county and its communities are facing constraints with their key infrastructure - water and sewer - and telecommunication service is tenuous. In addition, over 75 percent of the land in the county is owned or managed by federal land management agencies; limiting the option for ranchers, farmers and timber companies.
Declining Natural Resources
The county's traditional economic base of agriculture and timber has been declining and while they have weathered past cyclical changes in these industries, they are no longer experiencing a typical cycle but rather facing a major economic shift.
Once the home of a thriving timber industry, available harvests have fallen dramatically in the past few years. For the past four decades, the average annual harvest from public lands in the Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests averaged 55 million board feet; it has now fallen to less than 5 million board feet, a drop of over 90 percent. Timber sales have been restricted by environmental rules, the Endangered Species Act and changing opinion about the uses of public land. In addition, forest health problems have been caused by years of drought and past federal management actions that suppressed wildfires and removed large overstory trees.
East Oregonian Newspaper
April 8,2001
The loss of farm and timber jobs has been traumatic. Wallowa County lost more than 270 timber industry jobs over the past 10 years. Another 100 jobs were lost from declining federal government employment, mostly within the U.S. Forest Service. The county had an average unemployment rate of 10.5 percent between 1995 and 1999 when the state unemployment rate during that period was 5.6 percent and national unemployment was at 4.9 percent.
The loss of the county's job base has led individuals and entire families to leave the county. This in turn has further reduced the available skilled workforce, brought about a decline in school enrollment, and results in a loss of local tax revenue available to provide essential public services such as hospital, fire and police.
New Strategies
Wallowa County has made efforts and strides in turning the tide. The county's strategic plan was adopted in 1996 and several projects have been implemented since, including a feasibility study for a rural fire protection district and downtown revitalization efforts in the cities of Joseph and Enterprise.
Despite losses in timber jobs, the county continues to have hope for a renewed wood-product industry. In 2000, the Joseph Timber Company invested half a million dollars in a small-log processing facility.
"I think it is a reasonable rise," said Steve Krieger, principal owner. "I don't think the timber supply is going to completely dry up - you've just got to be willing to move to a smaller diameter log." Despite this investment, the mill closed in October 2000 due to the unavailability of log supply. They do expect to reopen in mid 2001, but without a stable source of timber their long-term future is uncertain.
As an additional strategy to rejuvenate timber-based economies, the county supports the Blue Mountain Demonstration Area Initiative, launched by the U.S. Forest Service to promote healthy forests and communities by placing environmentally-sensitive logging projects on a fast track. However, the only two logging proposals submitted in 2000 were stalled by appeals filed by environmental groups under the Endangered Species Act. Wallowa County has worked with the Nez Perce Tribe to develop a local watershed-by-watershed recovery plan to show federal agencies that local oversight is sufficient for salmon protection. However, the federal government did not accept the plan as a substitute for its required consultation.
The county has also been working to encourage entrepreneurs to develop smaller businesses employing two or three people. This approach, "Enterprise Facilitation," has so far assisted 87 business entrepreneurs, resulting in two new businesses, one business expansion and creation of four new jobs. Although the program has had a great deal of support from federal, state and county partners, additional funding is needed for it to continue.
Conclusion
Wallowa County is a rural community facing a multitude of challenges. Leaders and residents are willing to try new ways of diversifying their economy and include a wide variety of stakeholders and partners in the efforts. But more assistance is needed to help them.
