The money is part of $1.2 billion promised over three years under the Northwest Economic Adjustment Initiative to create jobs and jump-start local economies in California, Oregon and Washington by enabling timber-dependent communities to diversify their industries. The funding will help put dislocated timber workers back to work restoring watersheds and expanding uses for timber. California will receive at least 15 percent of the funding each year, or about $34 million this year.
The state's Community Economic Revitalization Team (CERT) formally announced the first 37 recipients of $7.3 million for watershed restoration jobs and economic development on April 29. In addition, the Economic Development Ad ministration awarded $71,250 for a Crescent City harbor development plan, $50,000 for economic development planning in Mendocino County, and $200,000 to advance an aquarium exhibit in Redding that will boost tourism.
"We have begun to lay a new foundation for Northern California communities that can no longer be as economically dependent upon timber," said Terry Gorton, Governor Pete Wilson's appointed chairman of the CERT. "We must see that the federal dollars coming our way are invested wisely in helping our economy to grow in new directions. It's a challenge for many communities, but wise investments require careful planning for new directions rather than groping along an un charted course."
The California CERT received 847 proposals through May 15 for the funding of projects in Del Norte, Shasta, Tehama, Trinity, Siskiyou, Mendocino, Humboldt, Lake, and Lassen counties. Several projects benefit more than one county. New proposals will be evaluated, and others reevaluated for funding as the process continues. Federal agencies determine which projects are most qualified to receive grants and loans.
A federal judge halted timber harvests in national forests inhabited by the Northern Spotted Owl in 1991 after the bird was declared a threatened species. Last year, a team of scientists developed a plan, known as Option 9, to protect the owl and also to allow some timber harvests. The plan reduces timber harvests from the 1980s average of 4.5 billion board feet a year to approximately 1 billion board feet, and protects old-growth forests, key watersheds, and wildlife species. The plan has been challenged in lawsuits by the timber industry and environmental groups.
The U.S. Forest Service awarded grants totaling $1.8 million for 31 projects in six counties: Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Shasta, Siskiyou, and Trinity.
Jobs-in-the-Woods
The Service also is letting contracts for more than $3.3 million for restoration work in 11 watersheds in the four California national forests affected by the Forest Plan: Klamath, $820,000; Mendocino, $837,000; Six Rivers, $843,000, and Shasta-Trinity, $834,000. In addition, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is providing $200,000 for restoration in the Honeydew Creek watershed of the King Range National Conservation Area.
The Farmers Home Administration/Rural Development Administration presented grants and loans totaling $5.5 million to six recipients in Siskiyou, Shasta, Trinity, and Tehama counties for infrastructure improvements that will enable communities to better accommodate new business growth.
"These infrastructure projects will help businesses locate and expand, which will have economic impact many times the initial investment," said Michael M. Reyna, state director of the FmHA/RDA.
Earlier this year, Governor Wilson provided $1 million in discretionary funds through the federal Job Training Partnership Act to help counties coordinate and develop plans for retraining dislocated timber industry workers and beginning to plan a new economic future.
The CERT process, a team of local, state and federal representatives that administers the funding process, was established by the Clinton administration. Governor Wilson appointed state and local members.