Forest Contracting Businesses in the US Southwest: Current Profile and Workforce Training Needs

Abstract

We surveyed forestry contractors in three sectors (logging, mastication, and trucking) across the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. Our survey sought to gather current demographic and background information on contractors as well as establish how a forest operations training center might address their employee training needs. Most of the businesses surveyed were small, with owner ages tending to be high (over 50) but employee ages much lower (under 40). Finding skilled workers was identified as the greatest barrier to success by the respondents, underscoring the need for more training opportunities. The majority of respondents (86%) did not have access to any external training programs. Survey results indicated a high demand for training programs for forestry contractors in the Southwest, which could play a vital role for the region to achieve landscape-scale forest restoration goals.