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more to access and harvest the tree than the wood is worth. There 

 are many indications that the American public, when given the 

 facts, would argue otherwise. 



Forest-based economies include communities and regions that are 

 dependent on forests for a large share of their economic base. Such 

 communities and regions are often timber dependent, but are find- 

 ing that economic diversification is necessary for their future. In 

 large part, diversification depends on the economic resources repre- 

 sented by the forest itself. 



In emerging global economies, the real source of economic wealth 

 is the skill and insight of a Nation's work force. Writing in Atlan- 

 tic Monthly, Secretary of Labor Robert Reich noted that the educa- 

 tion levels and infrastructure are among the keys to global com- 

 petitiveness. This is the same for communities. 



In this context, the quality of the environment takes on a new 

 meaning. Communities must compete to attract innovative, educat- 

 ed people, the capital on which the new economy is based. In this 

 competition, environmental quality becomes a distinctive asset. To 

 the extent that community stability implies sustainable community 

 economies, a prerequisite to success is that the linkage between the 

 environment and the economy be explicitly recognized. Reich's 

 findings are significant in this context, and they suggest that prior- 

 ities must be reordered in many rural communities. The economic 

 base must be measured in broader terms than the traditional focus 

 on manufacturing industry and export-derived income. 



Nowhere in the United States is the need to diversify the forest- 

 based economy more apparent than in the Greater Yellowstone 

 ecosystem, where Montana, Idaho and Wyoming meet. Federal 

 land is the heart of the ecosystem. An examination of the area's 

 economy suggests that the current Federal land management is out 

 of step with economic realities. Just 5 percent of the region's jobs 

 are derived either directly or indirectly from timber, mining, or 

 energy industries. Yet the Forest Service spends 67 percent of its 

 budget on timber management and just 16 percent on recreation 

 and conservation programs. 



The driving forces in the Greater Yellowstone area's economy 

 are retirement income and self-employment in the service sector, 

 according to Dr. Tom Power, chairman of the economics depart- 

 ment at the University of Montana. It is worth pointing out that 

 the service sector is not just chambermaids and short-order cooks. 

 Doctors, lawyers, financial consultants, and a host of other profes- 

 sionals comprise this industrial sector. In fact, they have done so 

 much more reliably and with far greater growth than have the ex- 

 tractive industries during the past 20 years. 



The attraction for new business and residents is the region's high 

 quality of life, in large part due to its scenic beauty and recreation- 

 al opportunities. Clearcuts and oil fields do not fit the image. 



Timber interests that benefit from the below-cost subsidy will cry 

 that county payments are essential to rural communities and that, 

 without the Federal timber-based payments, schools will close and 

 needed community roads will not be built. But what these same 

 subsidized interests fail to mention is that the vast majority of the 

 counties containing Federal timber lands are guaranteed a con- 



