What killed the logging industry was hydraulics and lights on equipment. Two men starting at 5 AM and quitting at 6 PM 6 days a week, can log more acreage in a week than a 10 man crew could in a month during the 1970s. Mechanization is what killed the timber industry. I installed equipment at Weyerhaeuser’s White River mill in 1982 that not only increased production on the headrig and trimmer, by 70% but did away with 15 people over two shifts. Mechanization is the bogey man, the timber companies just found a bird to take the blame, and the timber workers bought into it. Even now, the timber industry is evolving and mills are closing for good. Especially if they are more than 30 years old. Technology is moving fast again.