Local Resources, Local Needs, and Questions of Scale: Linkages Between Housing, Forestry, and Community Development in West Alabama

The Idea in a Nutshell

Several observations led to this project. (1) The majority of forestland owners in West Alabama own less than 20 acres of land. (2) Modern logging crews are unlikely to be interested in harvesting such small stands, so that owners have limited options to manage or earn an income from their land. (3) Sub-standard housing conditions are prevalent in this region, and residents might benefit from access to locally produced building materials. (4) The Rural Studio is based in the region and through its work can provide an initial outlet for locally harvested and processed building materials. In short, we appear to have a resource base, a need for building materials, and an internationally-known design program geared to improving local housing conditions. The intent is to create a number of small-scale enterprises which will become involved in harvesting, processing, and utilizing available natural resources.

There ought to be a way to put these pieces together. We believe this can best be accomplished through the combined efforts of university, USDA Forest Service, and local partners in West Alabama.

Background and Consultation

During Spring 2003, Conner Bailey and Mark Dubois put forward a proposal to the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station as part of the AAES’ competitive Foundation Grants program. The proposal (“Local Resources, Local Needs …”) was designed to examine potential linkages between local natural resources, local needs for improved housing, and the design talents of the Rural Studio. We discussed project objectives with the faculty involved in the Rural Studio, with Lukata Mujumbe of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, with Jim Kellen of the Hale Empowerment and Revitalization Organization (HERO), and with various professionals within the USDA Forest Service from whom we may request technical assistance.

We were notified that our proposal was successful in late Spring 2003 and we proceeded to recruit Beau Brodbeck and Pat Kennealy as graduate students to work with us starting in the Fall. Beau and Pat made one visit to West Alabama in the Fall. We also recruited Reny Tuinstra from The Netherlands to work with us. Together we visited West Alabama and met with our local partners in early February 2004. We are organizing a follow-up meeting of all project stakeholders, tentatively scheduled for the week of March 20^th.

Project Objectives and Resources

Our successful proposal was written in response to a “request for proposals” prepared by the AAES. Our proposed project has three objectives, reflecting the research orientation of the AAES:

1. Conduct a historical accounting of the effects of labor-capital substitution on forest management and the evolution of timber harvesting;

2. Assess housing needs and conditions in the study area;

3. Identify opportunities for small-scale forest management, harvesting, and production techniques, and their potential to serve local needs for employment, building materials, and the development of micro-enterprises.

We were successful in obtaining $40,000 for the first year of our project with the possibility of extension for an additional two years at the same level of support. Funding from this grant is earmarked primarily for graduate student stipends and thesis research. No faculty or other professional salaries are involved. In addition to Bailey and Dubois, there are several other professionals who will contribute to our project. These include Dr. Valentina Hartarska (an economist with expertise in micro-enterprise development), Dr. Bob Rummer (an expert on logging systems), and Dr. Ken Muehlenfeld (whose work focuses on helping companies locate in areas where timber resources are available.

The AAES will review progress on an annual basis (June 2004 is the one year anniversary) and determine whether to continue funding. They will look for research productivity and evidence of having sought additional funding. Indeed, AAES funding is viewed as “seed” money with the expectation that we will be successful in obtaining external funds. Where we look will in part be determined by how the project develops and what the various stakeholders want to achieve together.

Justification

Alabama’s Black Belt is a heavily-forested region which can be characterized as a region of persistent poverty and associated problems (Lee and Sumners 2003). Mirroring the experience of Black Belt counties across the South, Alabama’s Black Belt counties have suffered continual outmigration over the past fifty years (Wimberley and Morris 1996). Most of the forested landscape is owned by a relatively small number of owners engaged in commercial timber (including pulpwood) production. Highly-capitalized pulp and paper mills are the dominant buyer of timber in our study area and supply regional, national, and international markets. There are, however, a large number of owners with smaller forest landholdings. The management objectives of these owners are more complex, involving hunting, recreation, and aesthetic values, as well as timber harvesting. These owners have limited opportunities to sell their timber due to changes in harvesting technology. Today’s harvesting operations involve heavy equipment (feller-bunchers, skidders, loaders, tractors and trailers) requiring an investment of $500,000 or more. These large-scale operators are geared to harvesting large holdings and have all but completely supplanted the logging operations based on chain saws and shortwood trucks.

Owners of smaller holdings interested in selective logging have been left with few if any options for harvesting and marketing their timber. There is a pressing need to better address the harvesting and silvicultural needs of smaller forest ownership units (DeCoster 1998; Greene et al. 1997). Newly engineered small-scale harvesting technologies are being tested in Canada and Scandinavia. Some technologies have been developed as attachments for agricultural tractors. Others (e.g., portable mills) can be pulled behind a pickup truck. Our proposed research project will set the stage for identification and development of efficient and locally-adapted technologies that will make it possible to selectively harvest trees from small tracts of forest land and turn the timber into valuable products.

There is no expectation that our efforts will lead to the demise of industrial-scale forestry and the important role this sector plays in Alabama’s rural economy. We do expect to document that a significant segment of forest land owners are not well served by how the industry is organized, and that new opportunities oriented towards owners of smaller forest tracts can be developed using scale-appropriate technologies. We expect further to document the economic benefits, including employment generation, that will come from such development

The AAES Foundation Grant Program will provide the catalyst for bringing together a group of actors who have been engaged in discussions surrounding this proposal for well over a year. This research proposal is designed to generate publishable results, ideas and effective partnerships which will lead to successful applications for external funds, and lead to practical rural development initiatives linking natural resource and economic opportunity for workers and landowners. Dr. Valentina Hartarska is an agricultural economist with expertise in small enterprise development. Our collaborators from the USDA Forest Service will provide valuable guidance on technological choices and, in the future, training and financial assistance should this be appropriate. Our partners with the Rural Studio and the Hale Empowerment and Revitalization Organization will provide valuable input during this first phase (the current proposal) of our efforts, but more importantly will provide guidance for further research and development work we anticipate will be forthcoming.

The Rural Studio is internationally known for providing unique educational opportunities for architecture students while serving the needs of the poor of Hale and surrounding counties. The Rural Studio recently has expanded its educational mission to include students working in fields other than architecture. Our proposed work would fit well with this initiative while offering a concrete opportunity for work of the Rural Studio to become more integrated into the local economy through incorporation of locally-produced materials into student projects. In addition to inspiring designs and improved housing quality for individual families, promotion of the use of local materials by the Rural Studio could help local loggers and wood processors establish viable businesses in an area desperate for jobs and income. rk designed to identify such needs and the USDA Forest Service has made no specific commitment. We do believe, however, that the research we are proposing is entirely consistent with the USDA Forest Service’s interests in promoting forest-based rural development in the South. We believe participation of these collaborators will facilitate the flow of external funding for continued support of our efforts well beyond the term of our proposed project.

Progress to Date

On projects of this kind, a slow start is not unusual. In our proposal, it was very clear that much of the field research would be done by graduate students. Funding became available in June and we had graduate students recruited and in place in August. While taking necessary courses for their degree programs, they also conducted research to prepare them for working in the field. Pat Kennealy developed a research report summarizing government housing programs directed at rural areas. Beau Brodbeck documented the consolidation in sawmill capacity and the consequent decline in number of small sawmills across the state. Both Pat and Beau have developed detailed proposals for their thesis research and are in the process of having these critiqued by faculty on their thesis advisory committee. Beau has a degree in Forestry and several years experience working as a consulting forester in Alabama. His work will focus on questions related to harvesting and processing, with special emphasis on the viability of small-scale operations. Dr. Valentina Hartarska, an economist with expertise on micro-enterprise development, will support this work. The second student, Pat Kennealy, is a rural sociologist with an interest in issues of housing and poverty. They should both be ready to hit the field in May, after Spring semester is finished.

Reny Tuinstra joined our project team in February. Her interests are in sustainable development, and she is particularly interested in how non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can partner with universities in pursuit of common goals. She will write a report of her observations.

Two papers are being prepared for an academic conference in August (Rural Sociological Society). Mark Dubois, Conner Bailey, Pat Kennealy, and Beau Brodbeck will attend. Abstracts of the papers are posted at our project website: < http://www.ag.auburn.edu/~cbailey/aaes.htm >.

Future Directions

The research plan developed at the outset was designed to identify opportunities and obstacles associated with creating economic opportunities within a locally-based forest industry. Evolution of this project will depend on the insights and leadership provided by local NGOs and other citizens. This is especially important because leadership within both HERO and the Federation of Southern Cooperatives has changed since the project was first discussed.

A meeting is scheduled for late March or early April 2004 when the various stakeholders will meet together and discuss what they hope to achieve from this project, and what they believe they can contribute to the common enterprise.

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