ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the relevant literature and suggests potential avenues for future inquiry. Resource development and its impact upon community stability have long been of interest to rural sociologists. Timber-dependent communities were part of these early studies of rural communities. The relationship between the forest industry and community stability is of renewed importance. The migration of the timber industry to the southeastern United States and increasing Canadian lumber exports has had a substantial impact on traditional Pacific Northwest markets. Community studies have been directed around several key concerns that confront researchers specifically interested in timber dependent communities. Studies of communities in forested regions have measured timber dependency in numerous ways. Economic measures predominate. The literature on timber dependency and community stability is diverse; it involves several disciplines, little explicit theory, and a range of methodological strategies. Some generalizations can be made regarding methodological problems and theoretical possibilities.
