After World War II, exhaustion of private timber supplies in the last
great forest frontier - the
Pacific Northwest - caused the timber industry to turn to public lands.
The Forest Service
enthusiastically expanded logging on marginal public lands as maximum
material production
became a national duty and mora imperative during the cold war years.
Clearcutting replaced
selection logging and roads into the backcountry were built at breakneck
speed.
The timber sale process was driven by the fact that commendations, promotions
and salary
bonuses rewarded forest managers who achieved or exceeded production
targets. As a
consequence, a system developed that has maximized timber sales and
road building budgets to
generate revenue and profits, while neglecting recourse conservation
and rehabilitation.