Social and Economic Contributions of the White Mountain Stewardship Project: Final 10-Year Assessment—Lessons Learned and Implications for Future Forest Management Initiatives

The White Mountain Stewardship Project (WMSP) was the first forest stewardship project of its size and duration, lasting 10 years (2004–2014). Based on in-depth interviews of local businesses, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service staff, and stakeholders, we present an assessment of the WMSP and lessons learned in large-scale contracting. The assessment includes factors that promoted project initiation, the contractual process, the overall impact to the local forest products industry and economy, and the formation of key partnerships. Experiences from the WMSP offer unique social and economic perspectives that can inform other communities at risk of wildfire. The recommendations were derived from final WMSP performance metrics and respondents' reflections on the outcomes of the WMSP. The lessons learned from the WMSP offer improvements for future restoration initiatives in USDA Forest Service contracting mechanisms, industry capacity, and coordination of stakeholder interests, including agency-to-industry, business-to-business, and agency-to-stakeholder partnerships. Management and Policy Implications Key recommendations resulting from the assessment of the 10-year White Mountain Stewardship Project (WMSP) focus on contracting processes, industry capacity, and partnerships. Recommendations for improving contracting processes include deriving a concise and mutually agreed upon contractor performance metric; conducting timely contract evaluations that track acre-to-volume relationship, government and industry costs, and revenue by product source; evaluating contractor performance; tracking the number and quality of jobs created and supported; providing an apprentice/journeyman training program; and verifying the appropriate rate of local wage in wage requirements. A key consideration for building industry's capacity is ensuring long-term availability of fiber necessary to amortize investments. Strategies include minimizing supply interruptions by estimating wood supply by location, type, size, and harvest timing relative to industry needs and market demands; sequencing and overlapping 10-year contracts with guaranteed supply and utilizing multiple contractors; and establishing policies that include financial incentives for research and development to harvest and process small diameter wood. Cohesive agency, industry, and stakeholder partnerships are critical to the success of forest restoration initiatives. Recommendations to nurture collaborati