Excess timber comes out of the forest one way or the other: it is either carried out or it burns out.  From the inception of the U.S. Forest Service, we managed our public lands according to sound forest management principles.  We prevented overcrowding by removing excess timber so that trees had room to grow healthy and strong.  This assured not only resilient forests, but also a thriving economy throughout our mountain communities and an important revenue stream to the treasury that was available for additional improvements to the public lands.

But beginning in the 1970’s, Congress began enacting laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act that promised to improve the forest ecology.  Routine forest management projects and timber sales became subject to cost prohibitive and endlessly time consuming environmental studies, accompanied by opportunistic litigation.  Our once healthy and well maintainned federal forests were consigned to a policy of benign neglect.  After 40 years of these laws – all predicated on the promise they would improve the forest environment – I believe we are entitled to ask, “How is the forest environment doing?”