Seeing the Forest

Northeast Oregon Survey Looks at Community and Environment.

Courtesy: 123rf.com

(DURHAM, NH) - This brief reports on a survey conducted in Fall 2011 as one component of the ongoing Communities and Forests in Oregon (CAFOR) project. The CAFOR project focuses on the people and landscapes of three counties in northeast Oregon (Baker, Union, and Wallowa), where landscapes and communities are changing in interconnected ways.

Given a choice of whether natural resources should be used now to create jobs, conserved for future generations, or both equally, more than one-half of the respondents answered "use now." Northeast Oregon residents are more likely than Americans nationwide to prioritize exploration and drilling for oil ahead of renewable energy development.

They are also more likely to say that environmental rules have been bad for the region, and to comment that individuals or businesses should be free to do what they want with their land. The pattern of survey responses reflects a region transitioning from historical resource dependency to a more diversified future based to a greater degree on natural amenities.

Read the brief (PDF).

Read the brief online.

Visit the Carsey Institute website.

The Carsey Institute conducts policy research on vulnerable children, youth, and families and on sustainable community development. We give policy makers and practitioners the timely, independent resources they need to effect change in their communities.