Logging in the Sierra Nevada

The California Gold Rush created a high demand for timber in housing construction, mining procedures, and building railroads.

In the early days, harvesting of forests were unregulated and within the first 20 years after the gold rush, a third of the timber in the Sierra Nevada was logged.

[1] The economy boom after World War II dramatically increased timber production in the Sierras using clear-cutting as the dominant form of logging.

For comparison, thirty-three million people visit the National Forests of California for recreation, generating 38,000 outdoor recreation-related jobs.

[6] Regulation mandates protective measures to address the risk effecting a wide variety of biotic and abiotic factors.