I second Pbman2. I was born, raised, and live in the Puget Sound area of Washington. Timber harvesting is a MAJOR industry (the Boeing family started out in timber harvesting). There is a mountainous hillside south of Bellingham (my home town) on Interstate 5, on which I have seen the hillside clear-cut and completely regrown over about 4 cycles in about 20-30 years. I haven't been back enough to continue counting. Here, in my own suburban neighborhood, a tract of several acres of standing Douglas Fir was cleared for development. What emerged from the clearing operation were two abandoned houses, dating from the 1950s, judging from the style and fixtures. Completely invisible. My own house is surrounded by 100-foot tall Douglas Firs from pre-existing forest. Some that had been cut down for various reasons had stumps with rings indicating ages of some 70 years. Settlement and farming in Whatcom County was impossible without first cutting down forest, in order to have open land. Where trees grow and rainfall is copious (e.g., 50 inches/year), it is impossible for them not to grow. They are like weeds.