A lot of forest plans were issued in 1985, and I managed to review 20 of them. Considering holidays, that was almost one every two weeks. It made for a hectic schedule, but each new plan taught me something so that the quality of my reviews steadily improved.

A group of wilderness activists in Quincy, California asked me to review the Plumas Forest plan. The activists included Mike Yost, who taught forestry at Feather River Community College, his wife Sally, who is an amazing artist, and attorney Michael Jackson.

While I was reviewing documents in the forest supervisor’s office, some of the planners were meeting in another corner of the office. I could tell their discussion was getting heated, and finally one of them blurted out, “He’s going to write about us in his magazine, and we’re all going to be in trouble!” Continue reading →

In 1981, the Oregon Wilderness Coalition held a fair and fundraising auction at the Lane County Fairgrounds. I passed out brochures encouraging people to take Amtrak on their next wilderness adventure and bought a river trip for two on Idaho’s Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Unfortunately, someone also stole my Raleigh International bicycle, a Campagnolo-equipped classic from the early 1970s.

At about the same time, the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund (SCLDF) asked me to testify in a court case about Alaska state forests. This wasn’t really my first paying client, but I think they paid me more than I had been paid before. At least, the fee they paid was enough to replace my Raleigh with a nice up-to-date Trek with Dura-Ace components.

SCLDF had already hired Gordon Robinson to review the state’s timber management plan, and all they really wanted me to do was corroborate his analysis. Gordon and I flew up to Juneau together — it was my first time up in an airplane — and watched the mountains of Southeast Alaska from the window. Later, SCLDF chartered a small plane and flew us over state lands and, incidentally, glaciers, mountains, and fjords. It was all very pretty, but had nothing to do with my testimony. Continue reading →

Starting Forest Planning magazine was exciting, but after six years of 16-hour days on practically no pay, I was burnt out. Receiving the Neuberger Award was an indication that I was on the right track, but my actual accomplishments had been nearly nil.

The Forest Service had rejected the Oregon State Board of Forestry’s plan, but I had little to do with that. The state legislature had rejected my bill to reform the board and the governor had refused to appoint me to the board. The BLM had responded to my criticisms by building a brick wall around itself. The Forest Service was more open to discussion but hadn’t made any visible changes in response to my reviews of unit plans and timber management plans. On top of this, flunking the exam required to go on to get a Ph.D. in economics was dispiriting.

My friends James and Ellen, grateful for me getting the Forest Service to cancel the timber sale in their watershed because it was in a roadless area, offered to fix up one of their cabins for me to live in and recuperate. By this time, Miss Vickie, the woman I had met on the San Francisco Zephyr, and I were a couple, and she agreed to move down with me. Continue reading →

In late 1979, several events took place that would have profound consequences for the future of the national forests. First, in September OSPIRG published a massive, 144-page report on old-growth forests by Cameron La Follette. While environmentalists liked to talk about old-growth forests, what they meant were “big trees.” The Forest Service and timber industry argued that old-growth forests were “biological deserts” because the thick canopy of needles and leaves prevented any light from reaching the ground, and thus there was nothing for deer or other wildlife to eat.

Cameron’s report was the one of the first public efforts to challenge this notion, showing that several species of wildlife depended on old growth. It also noted that “most of the remaining old growth is in the already roaded portions of the National Forests which have been opened for timber harvest,” so wilderness protection of roadless areas would be insufficient to ensure the survival of such wildlife species. The report simultaneously opened the public’s eyes regarding old growth and created a new agenda for the environmental movement.

One sign of just how far Cameron was ahead of her time was an interview with Jerry Franklin, the forest ecologist who co-authored Natural Vegetation of Oregon and Washington, that she included in the report. “I personally don’t think old growth is an issue,” he said, because “there are already substantial acreages of old growth reserved.” Franklin would completely reverse course in less than two years. Continue reading →