Next Regular MARS Board Meeting, Tuesday March 2, 5:30pm at the Glenwood Grange  Learn more...

What’s New? Read our 2009 Newsletter!  Learn more...

Dec. 27 2009 Oregonian Article about Community Forests, featuring MARS  Learn more...

Read about our 2008 Visit to New England Community Forest Projects  Learn more...

Rural economies have faced fundamental changes and tremendous challenges in recent decades, as much in forest-dependent communities of the American West as any other rural region of the U.S.  Disparities between rural and metropolitan areas are striking, and range from average household earnings to infrastructure and access to technology.

Traditional views on economic development in rural America focus too little on asset-based approaches in favor of economic development that renders little benefit for people already present in the community and has few connections with the resources that brought about establishment of our communities to begin with.

Our approach to economic development has been to assess our assets, our skills and interests, and our opportunities.  We also look at what some refer to as economic “leakage” – dollars lost outside of our local economy – to help us identify where local economic growth might occur.  Lastly, a triple bottom line approach governs any decision we make regarding pursuit of a project.

Natural resources, primarily forests, have been central to the communities of Mt. Adams Country.  And given the millions of acres of public lands surrounding our communities in need of restoration and (wildfire/wildland) fuels reduction, opportunities for local contractors are shifting.  By-products from such projects, often small diameter logs, create opportunity for locally-based, “value-added” manufacturing if enough value can be added to the material for it to pay its way out of the woods.

Working toward a more accurate valuation of well-managed forest and agricultural land is also critical to promoting local, rural economies.  A fair monetization of the contributions of forests and open space of values associated with carbon storage, water quality and quantity, and other ecosystem services is difficult yet essential to developing vibrant, local economies based around planned growth, while preserving the integrity of resource lands.

Of course, promoting local economies goes far beyond this.  We continually look for the best way to support tomorrow’s entrepreneurs if they fit in with our vision of healthy landscapes and sustainable communities.  Improving infrastructure, such as telecommunications, is no small task, yet something that we recognize as critical for our communities to better compete in the global marketplace.  Ultimately, there is far more work here than we have resources to support, and thus tapping into networks is vital to pursuing our mission.

See Programs and Projects.