This scene from the 1940s comes from the beautiful mountains, lakes, and magnificent timber of the Pacific Northwest, including Alaska - a state that encompasses an enormous land area. The warm waters of the Japanese Current and the moist air it generates are the reasons for the comparatively mild climate of Southeast Alaska, Washington, and Oregon's beautifully timbered regions.

It is not often that you find a clear blue sky in an area that will bring up to 80 inches of annual precipitation, accounting in part for lush forestation of the region; ideal growing conditions for Hemlock, Spruce, Cedar, Fir, and other species.

Where timber can be had there are usually loggers, and Alaska and the Pacific Northwest are no exceptions. Alaska alone contains reserves of over 146 billion board feet of commercially valuable timber, and several times that much not presently marketable but which will be as the need escalates.