Consumption to Preservation David Seideman's essay Out of the Woods focuses on an environmental issue that is plaguing the Northwest (Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington) and its employment, recreation, beauty, and overall well-being. These problems are being created by excess in logging, the Northwest's most influential industry to date due to the fact that it is responsible for employing a substantial portion of that population. By the word "substantial" I mean, "Politicians and industrialists alike have characterized the conflict as one that pits well-paying jobs against the values of preservation (Seideman, 373)." However, Seideman disagrees with this statement for several reasons and illustrates them with examples throughout.
Technological industries affect on Northwestern employment While rallying in the Northwest for presidency in 1992, former President George Bush, "warned that the United States under a Clinton presidency would see no timber workers, only a bunch of owls (Seideman, 373)." Clearly there are less timber workers in the Northeast than there were ten years ago, however these have been due to the shift of employment from the logging industry to the technological industry.
English: Official White House photo of President B...
English: "Former Presidents George H. W. Bush and ...
Mural in Pembroke, Ontario, Canada depicting the l...Seideman argues that the latter provides employees with a much safer work environment and allows these companies to save money on medical insurance and pay higher wages. The technological industry also provides an abundance of jobs. In fact the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis illustrated that technology surpassed logging as the leading manufacturing employer. Another benefit is that the tech industry is considerably stable where as the logging industry has its severe downturns and creates unemployment for many, one person claimed she was once unemployed for six months.
The shift toward tourism and technology and its effect on the local economy The Northwest is abundant in clean water and has a low population; two aspects that have been very attractive...