Commercial forestry has occurred in these mountains in the past. Up to the 1970s, hardwoods such as Hibiscus elatus and Cedrela odorata were planted. In the 1970s and 1980s, Pinus caribaea was also planted on a very large scale. Commercial forest activities have been scaled down since Hurricane Gilbert destroyed many of the plantations in 1988. The most immediate serious threat is deforestation as a result of large and small-scale cultivation, principally on the southern slopes of the Blue Mountains, but also in other areas.
Deforestation causes massive soil erosion and the quality of the land deteriorates rapidly.
Water courses leading from the mountains become heavily laden with sediment and water flows decrease and become more erratic. This results in water shortages alternating with floods at lower altitudes. The deterioration in land quality renders it productive only for a few years, after which it is abandoned. The African grass Melinis minutiflora colonizes this land very successfully, to the exclusion of native species. Due to the susceptibility of this species to combustion, fires burn frequently on the mountainsides, eliminating any possibility of forest regeneration.