All sides of the timber issue have become increasingly shrill in their efforts to win their cause, so shrill in fact that they are alienating their own supporters. At one extreme are the cut-it-down-for-jobs folks; at the opposite extreme are those who want to ban all logging forever. In between are factions at odds over the best moderate approach to forestry management. The battle for the forests often results in a standoff, with little apparent progress. Left: Ocean falls pulp and paper mill. Photo: Courtesy of British Columbia Archives, Province of British Columbia (www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca). Call # I-48190.

Your group has been asked by the U.S.-Canadian Task Force on the Ancient Temperate Rainforests to study the dilemma and to submit recommendations for an international policy on the use of these forests of California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and southeastern Alaska.

Where are the balance points among the competing demands and interests? Your rationale for each recommendation should be clearly stated and supported.

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