These lumber operations gave rise to the settlement of the cloud forest. Most settlers of El Cielo came from the states of Michoacan, Mexico and Hidalgo because the lumber companies found that Tamaulipecos had little interest in living in the sierra. These companies wanted undivided attention to their operation, so the families were not permitted to raise crops or animals for personal consumption. Anyone disobeying this rule was suspended temporarily from work. Current conditions at San Jose are totally different.
Every family has gardens and orchards to grow food for themselves and their domestic animals.
In fact, the fertile soil yields more than they consume. Bartering is not an option because everyone is growing the same thing, and taking the surplus to market in Gomez Farias is out of the question since no one in the village owns a motor vehicle. Organizers of the E1 Cielo ecotour plan to involve the villagers in the tours and to purchase the surplus goods they produce. This should benefit everyone involved. My goal is to provide them more in-depth scientific information so they become better stewards of the resource and can participate more fully in the ecotours.