The Forest Service and the BLM are legally bound by the Northwest Forest Plan to protect humble creatures like slugs and snails from logging. But pro-timber forces in both agencies are sabotaging the effort. by Keith Easthouse

• Living Legends. Long before Europeans arrived, American Indians made ample use of materials gleaned from trees. Today hundreds of those trees live on as monuments to ancient practices. by Matt Rasmussen
• Wilderness Bluff. A Colorado developer has made a career out of forcing the government to pay him not to devep pristine lands. by Allen Best
• Alabama’s Green-leanin’ Good ol’ Boys. They curse, they bully, they pack guns. But these homegrown hellraisers are hell-bent on saving their state. by Jane Braxton Little

When love for a wild forest turns to activism, it’s all too easy to lose touch with what one is fighting for. Acclaimed writer Rick Bass chronicles his quest to get back to the roots of his beloved forest of northwest Montana. by Rick Bass

• Time Bomb in the Forest. The Los Alamos National Laboratory, birthplace of the A-Bomb, sits in the middle of a tinder-dry New Mexico forest. What happens if it burns? by Keith Easthouse
• Booming Business. Are the high-powered moguls of corporate recreation poised to take control of America’s public forests? by Matt Rasmussen
• The Ghost Panther. Searching for a mythical wildcat that some say still prowls remote corners of the Appalachian Mountains. by Will Nixon