Recovery Plan for the Northern Spotted Owl - DRAFT

The contrast between the behavior described by sociologists and the behaviordescribed by economists is worth noting. Economic models are based on theassumption that economic behavior is "rational." It is assumed, for example,that people are able to figure out and take the actions that would best improvetheir situations. Displaced workers, in this model, seek new training or moveto new locations with better employment opportunities. Sociologic models, incontrast, recognize that people respond to some traumatic experiences in waysthat prevent such economic adaptation. The resulting individual and communitybehavior patterns may inhibit people's recovery from traumatic changesin their situation.Lee and other sociologists suggested that programs to protect the owl beaccompanied by efforts to draw on the strengths of the people in timber dependentcommunities. Lee recommended, for example, that their entrepreneuriallifestyle and inventiveness be used to develop and implement silviculturalmethods that would promote the growth of owl habitat and increase the valueof timber that can be harvested.Lee's work also points out the difficulties imposed on state and local governmentsby the combined effects of the unemployment and social effects resultingfrom owl habitat conservation and the decline in revenues received bycounties from federal timber sales (Lee 199 lb, and Bray and Lee 1991). Justas the demand for social services increases, the financial resources available tolocal governments will decrease because of the decline in federal timber receiptsin which they share. Counties with a high dependency on federal timberand an above average proportion of protected owl habitat will suffer disproportionately.Studies of this problem concluded that severely affected counties could havedifficulty maintaining essential services and meeting the additional needscaused by economic dislocation. Many counties, particularly in Oregon, havereceived more than 50 percent of their revenues from federal timber receipts(Bray and Lee 1991). Federal receipts have been allocated primarily to schoolsand roads but support other programs as well. Reductions in funds fromfederal timber receipts would force cuts in services that are not mandated bylaw such as preventive health care, social services such as counseling andyouth programs, parks and libraries. The reduction in such services is expectedto heighten the social costs in communities hit by permanent reductionsin employment opportunities and other effects of owl conservationpolicies.C. Indicators of the Timber Dependency of LocalEconomiesOne of the opportunities to reduce the economic and social costs of achievingrecovery for the owl is to reduce the amount of habitat preservation in areaswhere it causes the highest cost. It is useful to identify those communitieswhere people's incomes are most directly tied to timber harvests that might beaffected by owl conservation. A closely related factor is the extent to whichpeople will be able to find employment in other sectors because of the proximityto more diverse urban economies or local opportunities for economicdiversification. Several of the studies reviewed by the Recovery Team includedefforts to measure timber dependency. Instead of developing new indicators,the Recovery Team drew upon these efforts. They are summarized here.The Beuter study included a substantial effort by Douglas C. Olson to assessthe timber dependency of various multicounty regions in the three-state area.550