Rural areas of the western United States are often dominated by public lands. Eastern Oregon is no exception with vast areas designated as National Forests, BLM lands, wilderness areas, wildlife areas, as well as state-owned lands. Members of the Blues Intergovernmental Council (BIC) were interested in how the management of our National Forests impacts the socioeconomic conditions in the counties where they are located. The report linked on this page was produced by a team at the REV Center to address this question.
Faculty and students at Eastern Oregon University are working with the Blues Intergovernmental Council to provide the council with facilitation support services. In 2022, a team at the REV completed a report providing a socioeconomic analysis describing the impacts of forest-related industries on local economies in 14 counties in eastern Oregon and Washington.