How to Resuscitate a Forest Left for Dead

In a remote stretch of British Columbia, the logging industry’s least-known legion makes the clear-cut forests bloom again. Their reward: 23 cents a tree.

Photos by Jonathan Taggart

The alarms go off at 4:30, electronic morning birds chirping at each other across the camp. On the other side of the river an owl hoots at snooze-button interludes, perhaps echoing an interval learned from several mornings’ worth of tired campers. The slow-running water is dense with pink salmon, and even at this hour their leaps filter through trees and tent nylon, reaching ears with a sound like heavy stones tossed carelessly from the bank. The rain is late and the fish, held here by the shallow stream, are frustrated, occasionally throwing themselves onto the rocky shore to thrash frantically before bouncing back in the water.