Building the restoration workforce
Demand for forest, watershed protection may mean opportunities to grow local forest industry
Working in the woods doesn’t come naturally to everyone, but for many who were born and raised in Taos County, the idea of a job in the forest comes naturally.
For well over a decade, the local forestry industry has sputtered. Work has been inconsistent, contractors often struggle to keep people working, and pay has remained relatively low compared to the risks associated with the job. However, a sudden influx of state and federal funding into the region, coupled with a growing recognition of the urgent need to accomplish wildfire risk reduction, means there may soon be more opportunities for jobs in the woods. Hopefully, a lot more.
To help those who might be curious about dipping their toes into this field, the Taos Valley Watershed Coalition, in partnership with the Rio Grande Water Fund, the Taos Soil and Water Conservation District, the Small Business Development Center and UNM–Taos, and New Mexico Forestry Division are joining forces to put on a one-day workshop geared toward current and aspiring forestry business owners.
Attendees at this first workshop will have the chance to hear from experts about the potential benefits and challenges associated with starting a thinning/forestry business in Northern New Mexico.
The workshop is scheduled to take place March 8 from 9
a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Taos Soil and Water Conservation District office on Chamisa Road in Taos. Space at the event will be limited, but the workshop will be recorded and posted online for those who aren’t able to attend in person.
Based on the level of interest and participation at this first workshop, these same partners are considering a follow-up workshop in the field to discuss
how to interpret a prescription, implement a project safely and efficiently, and discuss the differences on working with different jurisdictions (private vs. state vs. federal lands).
It’s important to point out that this workshop is far from a silver bullet. Economic development, in whatever form that may take, has been a tough nut to crack in Northern New Mexico. We are a very rural, very isolated community,
and many who have spent a lot of time finding ways to diversify our economy often find their efforts have limited success.
The hope, at least in theory, is that starting a forestry-related business is a more natural fit than previous efforts to jumpstart other industries. This is work that comes naturally to many Taoseños. A lot of local residents grow up in the mountains, and many of those learn to use a chainsaw at a young age, usually when going to cut firewood or harvest other forest products with their families. If our community is able to tap into this unofficial army of woodsman and woodswomen, it may turn out to be a significant opportunity to see the restoration industry in Taos County flourish. These folks, with a little bit of formal training and consistent work, could be recruited to do the work that will protect our communities and our watersheds from the threat of catastrophic wildfire.
For many of these same folks, doing this work is about a lot more than a paycheck. This is work that is intrinsically noble. Crew members who are already doing the hard work of thinning the forest often find a sense of dignity and pride in the job that they’re doing. It’s honest labor. And it’s meaningful work. In a place where tourism jobs and seasonal gigs in the service industry are too often the only option, working in the woods is a welcome alternative, and then one that aligns more closely with their own tradition and culture.
All this is not to say joining a feeding crew, or even starting your own forestry business is easy or without risk. For crew members to work often includes long hours, and sometimes tough conditions. It’s very physical and often grueling. And even now, the start-stop nature of the industry means work isn’t always consistent and there are often moments where crew members have to scramble to find side gigs or other work in between setting jobs. This also presents a challenge for business owners, and would-be forestry contractors: Without consistent work, and without fair prices that match the current cost for labor, insurance and supplies, it’s unlikely that we will see a true renaissance when
it comes to nurturing the local restoration industry.
In many ways, this is a chicken-or-the-egg dilemma. Without consistent work, new businesses and their crews are not likely to persist. And without enough local crews and crew members ready to go, a lot of the work that is so badly needed will go to out-oftown or out-of-state contractors, or simply won’t get done at all.
The workshop scheduled for March 8 isn’t going to solve all of this. But it is a start. It’s intended to be an easy way to describe what it takes to start a forestry business, what the outlook is for the amount of work that’s likely to come in the next few years, and also an honest portrait of what working in this field looks like: the good, the bad and the ugly. If, at the end of the day, there are still folks who see an opportunity to start a new business — one that has cascading benefits for the environment and their community — then perhaps that’s the right way to gain momentum for growing the local restoration industry.
Those interested in getting on the attendees list for the March 8 workshop can email delmedioforestry@gmail.com.
J.R. Logan is the Taos County Forest and Watershed Health Program Manager. He oversees several forest restoration projects that promote ecosystem health, traditional uses and economic development in northern New Mexico. To learn more about the forest restoration and wildfire risk reduction in Taos County, visit taoscountywildfire.org.