Economic Base Assessment of Jackson & Josephine Counties, Oregon

Monitoring and Assessment Team
Institute for Policy Research and Evaluation
The Pennsylvania State University

  Download Paper (PDF format, 300.2 KB)

This paper was produced as a part of the Ford Foundation Community-Based Forestry Project.

Excerpt: ...even though the economy of the Rogue sub-region has broadened and diversified, suggesting that it is more self-sufficient and stable than in the past, it has done so in response to market opportunities that are related to prosperous conditions elsewhere and the increasing constraints of a matured natural resource industry on which the regional economy has historically and continues to be based. If sustainable economic growth is to be achieved then the area must find a way to bring increased job security to its residents and additional value added to its resource base, but its ability to do so is not well defined. An analysis of how the region s economy has changed over time, where it stands today, and how its current structure will likely influence that of its future, is integral for understanding the potential for that desired growth and stability. The extent of that potential is addressed, in part, in the second half of this work, but first a broad historical assessment of the Rogue sub-region economic base is given.