

Forest funds boost jobs, environment

3:26 PM, Oct. 12, 2012  |  Comments
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There are a number of lessons to be drawn from the success of the Western North Carolina Forest Project.

First, the federal stimulus program was not the failure its detractors claim it was. The $1.97 million spent on the forest project helped retain or create 164 jobs. The stimulus did not end the Great Recession, but the situation would have been far worse without it.

Second, there are a lot of ways to make money from a forest besides by cutting down the trees. Some of the forest project jobs were involved in opening old roads and trails and utilizing such forest foods as mushrooms and ramps.

Third, the project did not just provide jobs in the short term, as important as that may be, but it trained people to be productive workers in the long run.

Land-of-Sky Regional Council administered the program, which provided grants to 14 entities ranging from a home accessory manufacturer to a mushroom cooperative. The largest grant was for $99,998, the smallest for $62,327. "That particular program really provided a boost to several small businesses in forest products that were really struggling," said Joe McKinney, executive director of Land-of-Sky.

One of the largest amounts, $98,000, went to the Boggs Collective for a cooperative workshop, woodshed, woodworking school and virtual gallery. "That was crucial. It supported us in setting up the cooperative," Melanie Boggs said. Brian Boggs was able to draw a salary while concentrating on designs for high-end chairs to be assembled by apprentices.

Other grants financed dry kilns and a shaving mill, but for the most part the money went to train people rather than build facilities. Doubletree Farms' Community Forestry Project got the $99,998 to promote sustainable forestry. Highland Craftsmen Inc. got $91,450 to certify locally sourced hardwood trees. Recovering Traditional Cherokee Delicacies got the $62,327 to harvest edible plants.

The people being trained not only have paychecks today but skills to use tomorrow. "If you talk to people in the forest industry, many of those grants were able to see them over the hump," McKinney said. "Now they are seeing some rise in their businesses, and they are able to diversify."

It is fitting that the largest single grant went to promote sustainable forestry. Yes, forests provide timber. But they provide a lot more as well. Edible plants thrive beneath the canopy. People get a pleasant respite from the urban world on forest trails. Forests provide habitat for wildlife and the trees remove carbon dioxide from the air.

Tree roots hold soil in place, preventing erosion. This in turn enhances water quality. It is no accident that Western North Carolina's public watersheds are forested.

Unsustainable logging provides a lot of jobs in the short run, then nothing. A major impetus for creation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests in Western North Carolina was the clear-cutting of slopes in the early 20th Century. A few old-timers still remember the devastation, and there are photos to show the rest of us.

Land-of-Sky now has national recognition. The Western North Carolina Forest Project was cited as Land-of-Sky won the 2012 Innovation Award from the National Association of Development Organizations.

The important thing, however, is the people who were helped. "This has been a win-win partnership with Land-of-Sky and Western North Carolina communities," said Susan Fox of the U.S. Forest Service's Southern Research Station. "The forest industry has been severely impacted by the economy, and this project has led to 164 jobs for under- or unemployed forest producers."

Well done. The people have benefited, and so has the environment.

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