Forest Management Under the Multiple Use-Sustained Yield Act of 1960 — Is Clearcutting in Wyoming an Instance of Compliance?

Prior to the late 1950's the forests of Wyoming supplied primarily local needs for lumber and railroad crossties. With the encouragement of the United States Forest Service, the lumber industry then constructed timber processing plants at key locations adjacent to Wyoming's national forests. The clearcutting of hundreds of acres of lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce and Douglas fir soon began. By about 1965, the public became concerned with the impact of clearcutting on aesthetics, soil, water, fish and wildlife. In response to this public concern, the Regional Foresters of the Rocky Mountain and Intermountain Regions appointed a team to analyze forest management practices on the Teton, Bridger, Shoshone and Bighorn National Forests of Wyoming. The team, which became known as the Wyoming Forest Study Team, was composed of scientists and resource managers who were all employees of the Forest Service. The team's efforts culminated in a report, Forest Management in Wyoming,1 which was issued during the summer of 197 1. The factual basis of this article rests in large measure upon that report. The Teton, Bridger, Shoshone and Bighorn National Forests are located generally in northwestern Wyoming. As exemplified by the Teton National Forest, climatic conditions are usually severe. Temperatures vary from minus 40" F. to 9 1° F., and the long-term mean temperature is 37.9° F.2 The growing season averages 51 days with the last