WITHOUT TIMBER, YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE A HOME.

YOUR PARENTS MIGHT NOT HAVE A PLACE TO WORK.

IDAHO NEEDED TIMBER TO BUILD THE STATE.

LET'S LEARN MORE... WITH A TRIP TO THE FOREST.

SOME OF THIS WOOD IS OLDER THAN THE STATE OF IDAHO.

HI, I'M PHYLLIS EDMUNDSON.

I'M IN SILVER CITY.

MINERS CUT DOWN TREES TO BUILD THEIR HOUSES.

THEN A FEW PEOPLE BEGAN TO MAKE MONEY SELLING LUMBER.

AND IDAHO'S TIMBER INDUSTRY WAS BORN.

PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF IDAHO NEEDED WOOD.

YOU JUST HAD TO GET THE WOOD TO THE PEOPLE.

BUT THERE WAS A PROBLEM.

CAN YOU GUESS WHAT THAT WAS?

IT WAS HARD TO MOVE LOGS VERY FAR.

WOOD WAS SOLD NEAR TO WHERE IT WAS CUT.

THE FIRST MILL WAS BUILT BY HENRY SPALDING IN 1840.

LOGGERS COULD SPEND DAYS MOVING LOGS DOWNSTREAM.

THEY MIGHT USE DYNAMITE TO BREAK UP LOG JAMS.

THEY JUMPED FROM LOG TO LOG AS THE MASS FLOATED DOWNSTREAM.

WOULD YOU WANT TO WORK ON A LOG DRIVE?

WATER AND HORSES USUALLY MOVED THE LOGS.

THEN SOMETHING NEW CAME ALONG.

IT HELPED THE MINING AND AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY, TOO.

CAN YOU GUESS WHAT IT WAS?

THE RAILROAD.

WITH A RAILROAD YOU COULD MOVE LOGS TO MARKET.

THEN MORE TIMBER COULD BE SOLD.

RAILROAD TRACKS ARE MADE UP OF STEEL RAILS AND WOOD TIES.

THE COEUR D'ALENE SAW MILLS MADE A LOT OF WOOD TIES.

A LOT OF WORK WAS STILL DONE BY HAND.

RUDY HEIKSEN STILL LOGS WITH HORSES.

Rudy Heiksen: "I LIKE TO KEEP THE OLD WAYS ALIVE.

THAT'S WHY I DO IT.

NOT EVERYTHING IS PROGRESS.

IT'S SLOW, THERE'S NOT MUCH PRODUCTION IN IT."

Phyllis: FRED AND JAKE ALTMILLER ARE OLD-TIME LOGGERS.

FRED CAN READ THE BLADE OF A SAW.

IT HAS TO SLICE AND PULL SAWDUST FROM THE CUT.

BOTH MEN KNOW YOU HAVE TO PUT OIL ON THE BLADE.

DO YOU KNOW WHY?

IT LOOKS EASY.

BUT DO YOU THINK YOU COULD DO THIS?

TRY CUTTING AND STACKING ALL THIS WOOD.

MOST LOGGERS DIDN'T MAKE A LOT OF MONEY.

BUT SOME GOT RICH.

FREDERICK WEYERHAEUSER WAS LOOKING FOR TIMBER.

HIS PART OF THE COUNTRY WAS RUNNING OUT OF TIMBER TREES.

HE DECIDED TO BUY SOME OF IDAHO'S TREES.

HE BOUGHT ALMOST A MILLION ACRES.

OTHERS BOUGHT TOO.

TIMBERING WAS BIG BUSINESS.

IDAHO IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THAT BUSINESS.

IDAHO HAS 12 NATIONAL FORESTS.

HAVE YOU BEEN TO ANY OF IDAHO'S NATIONAL FORESTS?

BEING A LUMBER JACK WAS DANGEROUS.

YOU COULD HAVE A TREE FALL ON YOU.

AND THOSE SAW BLADES WERE SHARP.

BUT ONE THING SCARED EVEN LOGGERS... FIRE!

THE FIRST FIRE LOOKOUT WAS BUILT IN 1900.

IT WAS AT THUNDER MOUNTAIN.

MABLE GRAY SPOTTED A FIRE FROM THERE IN 1902.

BUT IDAHO'S WORST FIRE WAS THE FIRE OF 1910.

THE FIRE MOVED AT 7O MILES AN HOUR.

IT BURNED A LOT OF LAND BETWEEN THE SALMON RIVER AND CANADA.

PEOPLE IN NEW YORK FELT THE EFFECTS OF THE SMOKE.

85 PEOPLE DIED IN THE FIRE.

MANY TOWNS WERE WIPED OUT.

3 MILLION ACRES OF TREES BURNED.

THAT'S ENOUGH TIMBER TO BUILD 50,000 HOUSES.

A WILDFIRE IS A NATURAL PART OF A FOREST.

BUT PEOPLE THOUGHT THERE SHOULD BE A WAY TO FIGHT A FOREST FIRE.

IDAHOANS CAME UP WITH THE COOPERATIVE.

A COOPERATIVE IS A GROUP OF PEOPLE WORKING TOGETHER TO SOLVE A PROBLEM.

IT TURNED INTO THE BOISE INTERAGENCY FIRE CENTER, OR BIFC.

THEY FIGHT FIRES ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

THEY PREDICT THE WEATHER AND LOOK FOR LIGHTNING STRIKES.

THEY GATHER FIRE FIGHTERS.

THEY HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO FIGHT FIRE.

SPIKE BAKER EXPLAINS ABOUT FIGHTING FIRE.

Spike Baker: "YOU HAVE TO BUILD A FIRE LINE.

YOU ALSO HAVE TO REMOVE ALL THINGS ON THE GROUND THAT WILL BURN.

FIRE FIGHTING HAS CHANGED A LOT.

WE HAVE NEW TOOLS AND AIRCRAFT.

BUT IT'S STILL HARD WORK.

IT'S A FIGHT."

Phyllis: LOGGING HAS ALWAYS BEEN A FIGHT.

A FIGHT TO GET THE TREES TO MARKET.

COMPANIES SOON FOUND THAT YOU COULDN'T CUT ALL THE TREES.

THEY BEGAN TREE FARMING.

THERE ARE 2 MILLION SEEDLINGS HERE AT POTLATCH.

THEY CAN REPLANT 5,000 ACRES WITH THE TREES.

THEY MAKE ALL SORTS OF THINGS FROM WOOD TODAY.

CAN YOU NAME THE WOOD PRODUCTS YOU USE?

THIS TOILET PAPER IS GOING TO JAPAN.

THE BUSINESS IS CHANGING.

TODAY THE CUTTING IS CAREFULLY PLANNED.

JOHN KWADER MEASURES THE TREES IN THE COMPANY FOREST.

THE MEASUREMENTS ARE ENTERED INTO A COMPUTER.

THEN WHEN AN ORDER COMES IN, THE COMPUTER SAYS WHERE TO CUT AND HOW MANY TREES CAN BE CUT.

AND IF THERE IS A STREAM NEARBY SO LOGGERS CAN SLOW EROSION.

EROSION HAPPENS WHEN TREES ARE REMOVED AND SOIL IS CARRIED AWAY BY WIND AND WATER.

THEN A LOGGING COMPANY CUTS THE TREES, AND LOADS THEM ONTO A TRUCK.

THE TRUCK TAKES THE LOGS TO A MILL.

AT THE MILL THEY ARE CUT INTO USABLE LUMBER.

THE LUMBER IS THEN SENT OUT AROUND THE WORLD.

THERE ARE MORE DEMANDS ON IDAHO'S PUBLIC LANDS.

SOME THINK TIMBER SHOULDN'T BE CUT.

IT SHOULD BE LEFT FOR RECREATION.

THERE ARE CONCERNS ABOUT EROSION.

SOIL IN THE WATER CAN HURT FISH.

ALSO WILDLIFE NEEDS FORESTS TO LIVE IN.

BUT SOME ANIMALS LIKE OPEN MEADOWS.

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT TO DO?

HOW DO YOU FIND A BALANCE BETWEEN JOBS AND RECREATION?

IDAHO'S TIMBER INDUSTRY HAS GROWN.

PEOPLE SOLD WOOD TO LOCAL MINERS AND FARMERS.

AFTER THE RAILROADS CAME THERE WAS STILL A LOT OF HAND WORK.

THE BOISE INTERAGENCY FIRE CENTER WAS ESTABLISHED.

COMPUTERS AND CONCERN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT ARE IMPORTANT.

CAN YOU IMAGINE AN IDAHO WITHOUT TIMBER?

WE NEED TO FIND A BALANCE BETWEEN HAVING ENOUGH TIMBER AND HAVING ENOUGH LEFT TO ENJOY THE FOREST.

MAYBE YOU CAN FIND THE ANSWER.

I'LL SEE YOU NEXT TIME.

CLOSED CAPTION TRANSCRIPTION BY SARA J. HANSEN