Abstract:
In 2001, the U.S. Forest Service issued the Roadless Area Conservation Rule:
road construction and substantial timber harvesting were prohibited on over 58 million
acres of roadless land, comprising 31% of the total National Forest acreage. Echoing
previous public debate over National Forest preservation, concerns over the employment
impact of this rule filled newspapers and political speeches.
National macroeconomic data was used in conjunction with county-specific
employment figures, timber harvests, and roadless acreage to produce estimates of the
effect of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule on timber employment. A fixed effects
econometric model revealed that while there was no observable change in timber
employment at the national level, some individual counties experienced a decrease in
timber employment. The Forest Service could focus grants, stewardship contracts, and
other policy tools on these counties to try to reconcile the goal of community stability
with the goal of wilderness preservation.
