De Soto National Forest - , MS

The De Soto National Forest area is surrounded by 8 counties with a total 2021 population of 556,368 people as reported by the US Census Bureau. Nearly 206,000 homes and 171,000 jobs contribute to the annual payrolls of $727,15,13,000. Though the counties vary with respect to impact, Harrison and Jackson Counties are both significant contributors to the state's GDP. Unmitigated fire events would threaten the livelihood of nearly half of the state's population. For this reason, special consideration must be taken to ensure the proper management of this natural resource.

A University of Oregon study titled "The Economic Impacts of Large Wildfires" highlighted the crippling impacts of severe fire events in rural communities. While areas such as Biloxi and the Gulf ports would have the required capital to rebuild, ancillary communities may not have the revenues and ability to recover. The study made several key conclusions:

• Local employment and wages increase in the short term

• It creates instability in local labor markets - especially as it relates to seasonal revenues

• For every $1 million spent in the county, local employment increased 1 percent during the quarter of the fire

• Local business capacity appears to limit the ability of rural and resource-dependent counties to capture suppression contracts

• Counties with more federal vendors prior to a fire tend to capture more contract spending locally during a fire