In the southern tip of Oregon's Willamette Valley lie many once booming lumber towns. In their heyday people without a high school degree could work at the mills earning more than the high school principal. But by 1990 the last of the mills had closed, a result of shifting markets, a dwindling supply of logs and tighter environmental rules. Jobs were lost by the 100s, sending its population reeling in ways that are still playing out. Residents now live with lowered expectations, and a share of them have felt the sharp pinch of rural poverty. Now minimum wage jobs or unemployment are the norm and many families survive on food stamps and food banks. These towns are examples of a national trend, the widening gap in pay between workers in urban areas and those in rural locales. A Reportage by Leah Nash.
© / Wade Miller, 47, and George Marlow, 51 live in
mobile homes in the yard of Wade's mother's home.
© / Wade Miller, 47,lives in mobile home in the yard of his mother's home
© / Wade Miller, 47,lives in mobile home in the yard of his mother's home
© / Former lumber town Oakridge
© / Nancy Murray gets a food box from the Community Sharing Program at Cottage Grove
© / Mike Augard, 43, plays with his dog Zues
© / The Emerald Valley Mobile Home and RV Park in Cottage Grove.Playing Children.
© / The Emerald Valley Mobile Home and RV Park in Cottage Grove.Playing Children.
© / Dazzle Deal, 26, with her daughter Viviana, 3, son Dillinger, 5, and their dog Dash.
© / Dazzle Deal, 26, with her children.
© / Viviana, 3, and Dillinger Deal, 5, play in the yard of their mobile home
© / Viviana, 3, and Dillinger Deal, 5, play in the yard of their mobile home
© / Viviana, 3,playing in the yard of her mobile home
© / Jim Kephart watches his great-grandson Derrick Cologna.
© / Tami Parrish, watches her grandson Derrick Cologna
© / Tami Parrish, watches her grandson Derrick Cologna
© / Upper Willamette Community Development Corporation Oakridge Food Box.
© / Shella washes clothing beside a stream
© / Shella with her daughter Genesis.
© / Mobile Home of the family Hylton.
© / Karen Kephart watches her great-grandson Derrick Cologna.
© / Kaydee Huffman, 22, works the graveyard shift at the Village Inn Restaurant
© / Woman pushing stroller.
© / Kaydee Huffman, 22, walks to work with her son Derrick Cologna, 1, and mother Tami Parrish
© / Oakridge, mail boxes.
© / Oakridge, industrial park.
© / Oakridge, Oregon.