Graduation Date
Spring 2017
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Program
Master of Arts degree with a major in Social Science, Environment and Community
Committee Chair Name
Matthew Derrick
Committee Chair Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Erin Kelly
Second Committee Member Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Third Committee Member Name
Laurie Richmond
Third Committee Member Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Subject Categories
Environment and Community
Abstract
The rapid decline of timber operations in the late twentieth century had an immense impact on rural communities whose economy was dependent on logging and lumber mills. The voices and concerns of timber-dependent communities and timber workers have been marginalized by broader forces that focused on political, economic, and environmental issues throughout the Pacific Northwest timber conflict and the subsequent deindustrialization of the timber industry. This study examines the social impacts on loggers, their families, and the broader community in Hayfork, California, through the framework of identity theory. The formation of logger identity and the broader processes that have impacted identity over the last 30 years is analyzed using mixed qualitative methods of oral histories, semi-structured interviews, and archival research.
The research indicates that logger identity continues to be a strong, primary part of the participants’ sense of self. Logging is more than an economic livelihood— it is a way of life that includes traditions, values, and beliefs. Although the occupational community is a defining factor for the construction of logger identity, place is a central factor in the resilience and adaptation strategies of loggers. Loggers are a part of families who have long histories and complex social connections in Hayfork. Notably the wives of loggers are fundamental in reinforcing logger identity and shaping loggers’ social world, and they play an important role in the adaptation strategies of a community in crisis. The changes in the lives of the loggers and the community in this case study are linked to the processes of broader political, economic, and social change. The study of logger identity and the human impacts of the decline of the timber industry can provide insight for other natural resource and manufacturing industries, to the extent that similar processes of change are occurring. This research could also offer a broader understanding of consequences of natural resource planning and environmental policy on the workers, their families, and the communities who directly feel the impact of planning and policy decisions.
Citation Style
APA
Recommended Citation
Harrison, Sheri L., "A "dying breed"? exploring logger identity after the decline in the timber industry in Hayfork, CA" (2017). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 38.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/38
Included in
Place and Environment Commons, Regional Sociology Commons, Rural Sociology Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons