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new products and marketing them far and wide. Over the 1990s, mofe than 2,500 jobs in 

 wood remanufacturing were created in diis region as many smaller companies increased their 

 product lines and ouQniL Unfortunately, similar levels of new investmoit, market linkages and 

 new jobs did not not occur in the North Coast r^on. 



The possibility of job growth with declining old growth harvests is illustrated by the 

 near total transfonnation of oae firm in the North Coast n^on. In the late 1970s, the firm 

 employed 110 workers producing wide, tongue and groove planks from old growth redwood. 

 Even though their supply of old growth redwood dried up in the 1980s, the owner did not have 

 to lay off one person. By investing in new equipment and developing new products, she 

 completed the transition to products made from young growth logs with no loss of jobs. 

 The &ct that the growth of income brought by in-migrants and its in^nct on the 

 economy more than overshadowed the reduction of timber jobs also other important 

 implicatioos. It is probable that many of these new residents were brought to the i^on by its 

 environmental amenities and possess eocHiomic talents that can be tapped to create new 

 enqiloyment growth in die region. Focussing on new employment oppcvtunities not dependent 

 on increased commodity production may have ccmsiderably more promise. 



Key conclusions 



Although old growth logs require more labor to {socess, new investments in sawmills 

 are increasing labor productivity and reducing the empk)yment needed to process a steady 

 supply of raw materiaL Investment in the lemanuficturing sector of the timber industry is 

 responsible for essentially all the timber job growth in the state. The relative slowness of the 

 timber industry in the area s ui i ouudiu g the p ro po se d Headwaters Forest area to iirvest in these 

 new product lines explains more of the job loss than harvest levels over the 1978 to 1990 

 period. Local economies are increasingly driven by income not related to the timbo- industry 

 and job growth appears to be positivdy associated with the environmental amenities of the 

 region. In this respect the apparent tradeoff between wilderness and employment may not 

 always be true. 



