When Sound Science Is Not Enough: Regulating the Blues

Abstract

In the Blue Mountains of the inland West, early foresters attempted to use the best science of the day to transform old-growth into regulated, productive forests. Managers of the 1920s thought that maximizing outputs from public forests would avert a timber famine. In the effort to reshape the forests into scientifically efficient producers of timber, old-growth had to be liquidated quickly. But the plan backfired, helping to create a forest health crisis across the West as well as a policy nightmare. Understanding the motives of those early foresters and the forest history of the region can help those who seek effective strategies for restoration today.