I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest for above fifty years now, and have “seen some things”. I’ve walked old growth Doiug Fir, Western Red Cedar, and both redwood and sequoia forests. Yes they are magnificent. But to say no one should ever cut any of this is crazy. Yes, preserve some of it. But all? Nah.
I remember driving in one particular area back in the early ’70’s and seeing old grown fir along both sides of the highway for one stretch. It was eventually clearcut. Oh my oh my…. but wait. In five years new trees had been planted and were tall enough to notice driving by. More Doug fir, by their look. Over the years they grew.. were harvested again.. replanted……and are now nearing harvest time once more. Same piece of dirt as produced two more crops of valuable high quality Douglas fir in the 50 years I’ve watched it. AND acted as a “carbon sink” by absorbing and fixing three times the CO2 that would have been the case had the original old growth been left to its own devices. Funny thing, since the current crop has been growing since before the EU cutoff date of 2006, when that timber is harvested and turned into whatever products it will be, NONE of it can be exported Tinto the EU. How crazy is that?