At united of the many locked gates ...

At united of the many locked gates to the Seattle watershed near Issaquah is a sign: "Welcome to the 45 Road Forest Restoration brew in the Cedar River Municipal Watershed, the first of an ongoing ecological thinning delineate in the 90,500-acre watershed."

As John Walter, part proprietor and general manager of Bellingham-based TimberTec Inc., unfastens the gate to drive onto the 90500 acres of pristine woodland, he explains to what degree this project is no ordinary logging operation. The 157 acres of Douglas fir that will be thinned at about 25 percent in the nearest few months is the beginning