Forest Management and the H2B Guest Worker Program in the Southeastern United States: An Assessment of Contractors and Their Crews

Tree-planting jobs in the southeastern United States are almost exclusively held by workers from Mexico and Central America. Most of these workers are in the H2B guest worker program, a program designed to assist nonagricultural industries facing labor shortages. Based on a survey and interviews with forest contractors, we found that H2B workers have become the most common workers in forest management and are favored by contractors competing for large-acreage contracts as well as contractors specializing in government and industry contracts. We discuss the advantages of H2B workers, as well as problems in the program from the workers' perspective in wages and working conditions. The policy implications of a potential expansion of guest worker programs are also discussed.