Socioeconomic Conditions Supplemental Report
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United States Department of Agriculture Socioeconomic Conditions Assessment Supplemental Report Wayne National Forest Forest Wayne National Forest Plan Service Forest Revision July 2020 Prepared By: Jonas Epstein Wayne National Forest 13700 US Highway 33 Nelsonville, OH 45764 Revised for Final Release By: Kawa Ng Eastern Region 626 E Wisconsin Ave Milwaukee, WI 53202 Responsible Official: Forest Supervisor Carrie Gilbert Cover Photo: The historic downtown square in Nelsonville, Athens County, Ohio. USDA photo by Kyle Brooks The use of trade or firm names in this publication is for reader information and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any product or service. 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Socioeconomic Conditions Supplemental Report Table of Contents Overview ............................................................................................................................ 1 Notable Changes between Draft & Final Version.......................................................... 3 Land Use, Access, & Ownership ...................................................................................... 3 Development Patterns and Land Use Change ............................................................... 4 Special Uses ................................................................................................................... 8 Non-Timber Forest Products .......................................................................................... 9 Demographics ................................................................................................................... 11 Age and Population ....................................................................................................... 11 Employment, Education, and Income........................................................................... 12 Poverty ......................................................................................................................... 14 Social Vulnerability ...................................................................................................... 14 Changing Public & Business Preferences ..................................................................... 17 Economic Development Groups ................................................................................... 17 Transitioning Toward a Low-Carbon Future ............................................................... 18 Sustainable Recreation: A Place-Based Economy ....................................................... 20 Forest Contributions to Local Economies .................................................................... 25 Regional Economic Structure ....................................................................................... 25 Federal Payments to Counties ..................................................................................... 26 Forest-Specific Economic Contributions ..................................................................... 28 Sustainability & Social Values ....................................................................................... 31 Public Health & Well-Being ......................................................................................... 31 Economic Security & Resilience .................................................................................. 32 Community Vulnerability, Economic Diversity, and Determinants of Success ................................33 Higher Education ...............................................................................................................................34 Preservation of Heritage & Identity ............................................................................. 36 References ........................................................................................................................ 38 Appendix A. Ohio Study Area ........................................................................................ 42 Appendix B. Kentucky-West Virginia Supplemental Study Area .............................. 44 i | Page Socioeconomic Conditions Supplemental Report List of Figures Figure 1. Map of the 17-county study area with Federal and State lands highlighted .................................... 2 Figure 2. Wildland-Urban Interface housing change from 1990 to 2010 ....................................................... 6 Figure 3. Wayne Special Forest product permit sales, 2000 to 2017 .............................................................10 Figure 4. Annual unemployment rates as a percent of labor force, 1990 to 2017 .........................................13 Figure 5. Per capita income, 2000 to 2016 ....................................................................................................14 Figure 6. Normalized index of populations at risk in study area, 2016 .........................................................16 Figure 7. Annual Wayne National Forest expenditures for recreation, characterized by budget line item ...22 Figure 8. Federal payments to counties, 2001 to 2018 ..................................................................................28 Figure 9. A comparison of local economic return .........................................................................................34 Figure 10. Twenty-six counties delineating the socioeconomic area of influence ........................................43 List of Tables Table 1. Natural and physical capitol of National Forest System lands on the Wayne, 2016 ........................ 3 Table 2. The 17 counties in the study area, with the corresponding acres of Wayne National Forest as of 2017 ................................................................................................................................................................ 4 Table 3. Wayne proclamation boundary land cover ....................................................................................... 5 Table 4. Family woodland owner characteristics across Ohio during two separate time periods................... 6 Table 5. CAUV enrolled acreage in counties with national forest presence, 2001 to 2016 ............................ 7 Table 6. Special use authorizations by category ............................................................................................. 8 Table 7. Oil and gas special use authorizations, 2016 .................................................................................... 8 Table 8. Population trends across the study area, 1990 to 2017 ....................................................................12 Table 9. Wayne National Forest total payments to counties, 2016................................................................28 Table 10. Baseline year economic conditions, Wayne National Forest 2016 ................................................30 Table 11. Wayne contributions to the regional economy, 2016 (actual) .......................................................31 Table 12. Population, employment, and income in the Kentucky and West Virginia study area ..................44 Table 13. Unemployment rates, average earnings per job, and non-labor % of personal income in the Kentucky and West Virginia study area ........................................................................................................45 Table 14. Percent of total personal income by select sources: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and income maintenance ("welfare") in the Kentucky and West Virginia study area ..........................................45 Table 15. Percent of families in poverty, received Supplemental Security Income, and Food Stamp/SNAP in the Kentucky and West Virginia study area