Archives: Northwest Economic Adjustment Initiative (NEAI)

The Northwest Economic Adjustment Initiative (NEAI or Initiative) is the socioeconomic assistance program that was established in 1993 to mitigate the socioeconomic impacts associated with the 1993 Northwest Forest Plan and declining timber harvests. Developed out of the high-profile, high-stakes 1993 Portland Forest Conference, which was led by then-President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and a number of cabinet members, the NEAI was heralded as an innovative approach to reinventing government and dealing with administrative gridlock. It promised new forms of economic assistance to support economic adjustment and diversification in rural, timber-dependent communities, including training for displaced Pacific Northwest timber workers. The Clinton Administration, through budget augmentation and reallocation of existing agency budgets, committed roughly $1.2 billion to accomplish the program's goals and objectives.

Until the NEAI, no comprehensive assessment of the entire initiative had been undertaken. In the belief that the Initiative's innovative mandate (to both reinvent government and jump-start rural economics throughout the region) and significant funding levels had likely created unique opportunities to learn about government effectiveness and how to best support struggling rural resource-dependent workers and communities, Sierra Institute secured the support necessary for conducting an in-depth assessment of the Initiative.

This page presents links to Sierra Institute's assessment of the initiative. The assessment includes case studies of Initiative projects in three states (California, Oregon, and Washington). It also includes an executive summary and a list of the lessons learned from the Initiative. The NEAI Map of Study Communities also contains links to the PDF case studies.

The documents listed below are provided in PDF format. The files are viewable with the Adobe Acrobat Reader®, which you can download here.

For more information about Sierra Institute's assessment of the NEAI, please write to us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .