Northwest loggers adadpting to greener economy

Harold Jones, right, has always made his money cutting trees, usually big ones, in the Pacific Northwest. Now, he illustrates changed circumstances, new attitudes and common ground among loggers and environmental interests in the region, reports William Yardley of The New York Times. (Times photo by Leah Nash)

"With the housing market and the economy in crisis, some rural areas have never been more raw. Mills keep closing. People keep leaving. Unemployment in some counties is near 20 percent," Yardley reports from Lowell, Ore. "Yet in parts of the region, the decline is being met by an unlikely optimism. Some people who have long fought to clear-cut the region’s verdant slopes are trying to reposition themselves for a more environmentally friendly economy, motivated by changing political interests, the federal stimulus package and sheer desperation."

Mills are making energy from bark and brush, jobless loggers are looking for stimulus-funded jobs thinning national forests to make them less fire-prone, and small-scale timber owners like Jones are "going green" by getting certification that their tracts are professionally managed. "The certification process, supervised by the American Tree Farm System, requires Mr. Jones to manage and replant his land under the supervision of a professional forester," Yardley explains. "It is intended in part to give small tree farmers some credibility within the sustainable forestry movement." (Read more)