History:
In the beginning, the government had a view of these forests to protect downstream flooding, not as viewed today, as commercial extraction of lumber.
The ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest are unique in all the world. These trees tower hundreds of feet above the forest floor. Some of the oldest trees have been growing since before Columbus arrived in America. Only 20% of the world's original forests still exist. The destruction has been worse in the United States, where only 6% of the original forests remain. The other 94% was cleared or destroyed over the last 300 years. (Old Growth, Page 1, Para. 2). For decades in the Northwest, the federal government has been in the business of selling off ancient forests from our public lands. The practice of clear-cutting old growth forests has harmed forest species, damaged salmon streams, and degraded watersheds that provide drinking water to many people in the Northwest. Illegal overcutting of the forests eventually led a U.S.Federal court to stop old growth forest logging until a plan was devised to protect the Northwest's ancient forests and salmon streams for the future. In 1994, the Northwest Forest Plan was said to save these forests and protect the salmon. This plan has fallen short. The federal agencies continue to clear-cut the ancient forests at an alarming rate. Finding loopholes in the plan, the safeguards have often been ignored. In 1997, timber sales sold under the plan clear-cut 7,032 acres of ancient forest, logged 5,523 acres of forest in streamside reserves, and logged 7, 872 acres of forest in ancient forest reserves. Timber sales were also sold in municipal drinking watersheds and in unprotected wilderness. (Wild Oregon, Page 1,2,3)