A thoughtful article worth reading in today’s Eugene Register-Guard examines an emerging debate among forest conservationists.

Some environmentalists, like the Oregon Natural Resources Council, favor logging on federal land—in the form of thinning—in order to help human-planted even-aged stands return to the ecological complexity of old-growth forests. Others, like the Sierra Club and Native Forest Council, continue to staunchly reject any logging on federal lands, on the grounds that thinning removes valuable nutrients and that logging interests can’t be trusted with publicly-owned forests.