How Oregon’s forestry workforce has evolved over 50 years

By Justin Higginbottom
Oregon Pubic Broadcasting
January 26, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Since the 1970s, billions of dollars in federal contracts have gone to forestry work like replanting trees or fuels reduction. Oregon has long been a center for businesses getting those contracts. But that industry looked a lot different 50 years ago. On a December morning the hills above Ashland, like many forests in the West, are buzzing with the sound of chainsaws. Workers with the nonprofit Lomakatsi Restoration Project are busy working to protect the valley from wildfire. Crews are clearing understory, reducing fuel that can feed fire. But while Oregon has long been a center for these jobs, the industry has changed dramatically over time. …Thanks to the 1972 Oregon Forest Practices Act, Rust found that alternative. The law required land clear cut by loggers to be replanted, a win for early environmentalists. 

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