Why is providing recreation, commercial forest products, environmental benefits, and social and cultural uses important?
Forests are important to people because they offer a range of social, cultural, and economic values. Some of the values that come from forests are obvious-forests provide direct social and economic benefits that include wood products, recreation, jobs, incomes, and timber sale and tax revenues to governments and school districts. Other values are less tangible, such as solitude, scenic beauty, habitat for plants and animals, and spiritual renewal. Oregon’s forests also provide environmental benefits such as purifying the state’s air and water resources. These values may not be measurable in dollars and cents, but they have an economic impact-they contribute to Oregon’s high quality of life and help the state attract desirable industries and skilled workers. This contribution in turn generates additional jobs, incomes, and tax revenues. If forests continue to provide the social and economic values and environmental services that people want and need, it is likely they will be sustained.
