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Note: This issue is no longer available for purchase. "The
New Loggers"
"The New Loggers" is the story of change brought on by the collapse of the federal timber sale program, advancements in logging technology and the industry's own cultural advancement. Former loggers Bruce Vincent and Larry Mason describe upheaval in their communities, while University of Washington sociologist Bob Lee ("The Hidden Danger of Moral Persuasion: the Clinton Plan Laid Bare") traces the administration's betrayal of promises made to the region's rural timber communities. Although this issue is six years old, its message is still timely and powerful reading for anyone trying to understand what has happened in the Pacific Northwest since the northern spotted owl was listed as a threatened species,
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At the height of the spotted owl debate, the West's metropolitan dailies routinely published editorial cartoons depicting loggers as overweight, under-educated, beer swilling, wife beaters who packed big chainsaws and didn't give a damn about forests or the environment. Evergreen editor Jim Petersen decided to conduct his own investigation of the region's logging industry. What he found surprised even him. "I knew the industry had progressed well beyond its rough and tumble beginnings, but I was startled to find so many young loggers packing not just saws but also advanced college degrees."