The trees stand tall and thick of girth. The air about them is cool and moist. The soil is rich and matted by a thick organic blanket. People marvel at the forest, imbibing its grandeur, coveting its timber. In another area, across the mountains, perhaps, the trees stand stooped and scraggly. The air about them is parched. The soil is coarse, barren, and hardened to the elements. People pass by the forest, ignoring its dignity, rejecting its worth.

These images reflect extremes in old-growth forests. The first is the compelling one: it exemplifies the common perception of a ecosystem at the center of a bitter environmental controversy. The second depicts an equally valid oldgrowth forest, but it is one whose fate few people care to debate.

The controversy over old-growth forests is the result of competition for what has become a scarce natural resource—large, old...