Where the Grass is Greener

Snow still caps the fir-covered mountains of southwest Oregon despite the warm spring sun that has lured burly loggers from their hibernation and drawn orchardmen back to their pear trees. In this lovely, sparsely populated land, dark green trees provide jobs and profits. But among the budding fruit boughs of the Rogue River Valley and in isolated clearings hacked deep in the quiet cedar and pine forests, new patches of a distinctly lighter green are flourishing this spring. Like pears and firs, this...