This report focuses on economic trends since the 1970s in rural southeast Alaska. These trends are compared with those in the Nation and in nonmetropolitan areas of the country to determine the extent to which the economy in rural southeast Alaska is affected by regional activity and by larger market forces. Many of the economic changes occurring in rural southeast Alaska, such as the decline in the manufacturing sector, are reflections of broad-scale changes in the greater U.S. economy. Other changes, such as the increase in nonwage income as a percentage of total income, have been greater in rural southeast Alaska than at the larger scales of comparison. In chapter 1, Robertson describes these changes and their underlying causes and outlines some of their implications for the management of the Tongass National Forest. Providing forest-based recreational opportunities and aesthetic amenities is becoming increasingly important as tourism and residential activity compose a larger portion of the regions economy. In chapter 2, Crone provides a historical context for the economic changes in rural southeast Alaska. She also establishes the global context for these changes, concluding that forces at local, national, and international scales have shaped economic growth patterns in rural southeast Alaska.