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Dislocated Workers. A Look Back at the Redwood Employment Training Programs
By Robert H. Michel, et. al - United States General Accounting Office, December 13, 1993
(This) study examined implementation of the Redwood worker assistance programs implemented to help mitigate the loss of jobs by timber workers in Northern California upon expansion of the Redwood National Park in 1978. The benefits provided to workers under the Redwood Employee Protection Program (REPP) were generous.
As of December 1988, REPP had spent about $104 million on 3,500 individuals. Less than 13 percent of these individuals enrolled in retraining. Of those workers who participated in retraining, officials estimated that about 95 percent completed their training and 25 percent of those relocated. California Employment Development Department (EDD) officials and REPP participants identified several problems they believed hampered implementation of assistance programs.
Workers and officials said communication regarding the program was inadequate. EDD officials said that because Department of Labor regulations for retraining were delayed until 14 months after program implementation, educational service providers were reluctant to develop retraining programs and officials lost contact with many dislocated workers before they could be provided with training.
Workers and officials said that receipt of benefits was not tied to retraining or job search assistance, and the benefits became a disincentive to work. They also believed that program eligibility was very lenient. During the period of the park's expansion, Humboldt County remained relatively stable, and Del Norte County experienced more fluctuations
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