In many places where the original forest was logged, the native species of trees, plants and animals have returned. These second-growth natural forests store a living library of forest life descended from times past. Our forests began their evolution 100 million years ago. Some of America's forests are home to trees 1000 or more years old. Imagine for miles in every direction, a land barren and scarred.
Torrential floods wash away the rich topsoil and gouge deep ravines, exposing rocks, clay or sand.
Bald Eagles flying in terror as their 400 year old nest trees crash to the ground. Salmon and their eggs smothered under an avalanche of mud sliding off of a clearcut mountainside. Bears fleeing as chainsaws and bulldozers clearcut their forest sanctuaries. These are not exceptions. For decades, the U.S. Forest Service has deliberately clearcut millions of acres of National Forests, selling off the logs to international timber corporations at bargain basement prices.