In 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that the Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy (SASS) would be undertaken in Southeast Alaska and on the Tongass National Forest with $25 million committed for initial investments. Through an engagement and selection process, funding for 59 projects was awarded to partners across Southeast Alaska for multi-year natural resource, infrastructure, community capacity, and Tribal-focused projects.
The USDA Forest Service partnered with Southeast Conference to measure the overall economic impact of SASS investments on an annual basis. Southeast Conference subsequently partnered with Rain Coast Data to develop an intake tool (see Appendix A) to collect quantitative and qualitative information from SASS funding recipients about the benefits arising from SASS funding. Rain Coast Data developed a regional economic impact model from the quantitative data using Regional Input-Output Modeling System (RIMS II) data to estimate annual direct, indirect, and induced economic benefits. Rain Coast Data developed a survey to gather qualitative data about SASS investment benefits. This data is provided in Appendix B.
In 2024, the third year of the initiative, SASS partners reported spending $7.4 million of the total USDA funding, for a combined 3-year spending of $13.4 million. The combined 2022-2024 expenditures catalyzed $19.8 million in economic activity, created 164 jobs (after converting all full, part-time, and temporary positions into year-round equivalents), and paid $7.9 million in local wages to Southeast residents.
