Linking ecosystem management to local economic development in Tillamook County, Oregon: A preliminary framework for planning

A preliminary planning framework is described for linking ecosystem management to local economic development in Tillamook County, Oregon. This preliminary framework is derived, in part, from a literature review focusing on local economic development and community development corporations. Additionally, the framework is formulated from the field testing of a demand-side approach to development planning targeted at the level of industry. This approach to development planning targeted at the level of industry. This approach evaluates business capacity, workforce capacity, future market demand, and factors limiting business sustainability in Tillamook County's emerging ecosystem management industry. These evaluations are analyzed using quantitative techniques commonly employed in community ecology. More specifically, business service diversity, business service equitability, business niche relations, and limiting factors in the business environment are analyzed to provide a foundation for developing preliminary policies to support the county's emerging ecosystem management industry. To guide future efforts, a framework for economic development planning targeted at the level of cluster is recommended and several cluster-based policies are presented.