Dislocated Workers: A Look Back at the Redwood Employment Training
Programs (Briefing Report, 12/13/93, GAO/HRD-94-16BR).

The expansion of Redwood National Park in 1978 put many timber workers
in Northern California out of work.  As a result, the federal government
created programs to help alleviate the effects of the park expansion on
workers and their towns.  Now 15 years later, new environmental concerns
have again placed restrictions on the timber industry, and the President
has proposed new assistance programs for dislocated timber workers.  GAO
revisited the Redwood worker assistance programs and found that,
although they were quite extensive, few workers actually enrolled in
retraining programs. Many workers received wage replacement benefits or
severance payments--some received as much as $45,000--but this money was
not tied to retraining.  In addition, because Labor Department
regulations for retraining were delayed until 14 months after program
implementation, educational service providers were reluctant to develop
retraining programs, and officials lost contact with many of the
dislocated workers before they could be retrained.  Per capita income
dropped steeply in the two counties affected by the park expansion, and
housing values fluctuated. In one county, an influx of retirees helped
to stabilize property values and retail sales, while in the other county
construction of a state prison produced about 1,800 jobs.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  HRD-94-16BR
     TITLE:  Dislocated Workers: A Look Back at the Redwood Employment 
             Training Programs
      DATE:  12/13/93
   SUBJECT:  Federal aid programs
             Education or training
             Human resources training
             Employment or training programs
             National parks
             Aid for training or employment
             Unemployment problem areas
             Unemployment compensation programs
             Training utilization
IDENTIFIER:  Humboldt County (CA)
             Del Norte County (CA)
             DOL Redwood Employee Protection Program
             Six Rivers National Forest (CA)
             Redwood National Park (CA)
             
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