The Battle for America's Forests.

As the 2lst century dawns, the forestry issue remains key to the wood products industry's future.

Fervorved passions about the future of America's forests ran rampant throughout the 1990s as they became a legal battleground that withered the supply of freshly cut logs from the Pacific Northwest, cost thousands of logging and sawmill jobs and placed pressure on other forests around the country to meet the demand for wood.

The combatants were environmental groups, who challenged every sale and protested every harvest, and the timber industry, who fought like Spartacus against a well-heeled enemy wielding the Northern Spotted Owl as both a symbol and a lance.

The Northern Spotted Owl Prior to 1990, few people had heard of this medium size owl that likes to hunt small rodents at night and live in dense stands of trees. But that simple bird, one of more than 400 animals on the endangered species list, would soon become famous as it graced the cover of news weeklies and became a pariah to the industry. (At its height, plastic Northern Spotted Owls were seen hanging in effigy in Oregon sawmills.)

Environmentalists said that the bird had to live in old growth trees and to "take" the tree, meaning to harvest them, would in effect, harm the birds, a violation of the endangered species act. Whole tracks of land were set aside for these grey and black birds -- private land, public land and industry-owned land.

The timber industry fought back with land-use rights arguments and scientific data that questioned whether the Northern Spotted Owl needed to inhabit old growth forests. It was scientific, it was complicated and it was a losing battle.

Environmental groups soon enjoined other wildlife into the fight: the Red Cockaded Woodpecker, the brown bear, the marbled murrelet, not to mention plants and even fungi.

Losing in the courts and in the court of public opinion, the industry changed its tactics. "We are the real environmentalists," they proclaimed and began working toward changing its image.

One of the most important steps was the formation of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. The initiative pledges to "Broaden the practice of sustainable forestry by employing an array of scientifically, environmentally, and economically sound practices in the growth, harvest, and use of forests," and 11 other tenets.

SFI members across the country began working with environmental groups, universities and government agencies to develop ways to better harvest trees while protecting wildlife.

While the war has cooled somewhat, battles are still being fought. Seattle Judge William Dwyer recently considered whether to unfreeze 34 timber sales that had been frozen by environmental challenges. And even more court cases are expected such as President Clinton's roadless initiative that would prohibit new logging roads (as well as fire-prevention and tourist-access roads) have outraged logging groups who now vow to fight.

But, as the 21st century dawns, let us look past the acrimony of the last decade and see the positive accomplishments as diverse groups work together to ensure long-lasting habitat for animal life, as well as a long-term supply of lumber for human life.

What follows is a short look at the progress made by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, as well as a look at other forestry issues including forest certification, whether the forests are really disappearing and hardwood lumber prices.