The Sad Fate of Our Old Forests The Pacific Northwest is home to magnificent old-growth forests, thousands of years old. Poker straight and virtually blemish-free, 200- to 250-foot-tall redwood, sequoia, and Douglas fir trees rise from the forest floor and smother mountain slopes with one of the world's most precious natural resources, wood. This substance we call wood satisfies all the needs of living beings. While people rely on harvested wood for shelter, furniture, and heat, wildlife depends on both living and dead wood to produce food, shelter, and shelter from predators as a means of survival. Here lies the problem. Can both humans and wildlife live comfortably, even with recent logging practices in the Northwest? As people and wildlife compete for this same precious resource, in turn, the issue of logging has exploded into a social war over who is more important: wildlife or people. Many environmentalists and conservationists argue that the logging industry is violating old-growth forests for their ability to support natural life by cutting them down. On the other hand, many top executives of wood product companies, sawmill owners and loggers disagree. They believe there is plenty of wood for "all species" and, thanks to proper forest management techniques, negative effects on the forest environment are non-existent. Although the logging industry claims that there should be no restrictions on logging old-growth forests, I believe the government should implement tighter restrictions on logging practices in the West. These forests are crucial to the existence of the complex ecosystems that thrive within them. Wildlife depends on the diversity of these ecosystems to survive, and society has an obligation to press ... middle of paper ... both people and animals benefit from wood products in one form or another . But who are we to decide whether or not to cut down our ancient forests? Much is known about the unique biodiversity of ancient forests, but so little is also known. As humans compete with wildlife for a precious resource like wood, many different species are riding the roller coaster of survival, and as society controls the speed of the roller coaster's journey, perhaps we should wonder about tomorrow. After all, these forests do not grow anywhere else in the world. Works cited and consulted Ancient forests: Rage Over Trees. Videotape. National Audubon Society, Turner Broadcasting System, INC., WETA, Washington DC, 1989.Chase, Alston. In a dark forest. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin 1995. Krajick, Kevin. “The Secret Life of Backyard Trees.” Discover November. 1995: 93-101.