100 years ago those forests were made up of large trees separated with a great deal of grassland. When there were fires, the grass and other trash on the forest floor burned but the large trees survived and were healthier. Now you can't cut a single tree because you may inconvenience a spotted owl, therefore there are 1000s of small trees, little grass and sick larger trees. A hundred years ago in that area, you had Indians deliberately setting fires to thin out forests, improve wildlife habitat for hunting, and promote berry-bush growth. The "virgin" forests the colonists first saw were the product of deliberate forest-management by Indians