In Southern Oregon, the sound of a helicopter often heralds another season of logging in the Cascades and Siskiyous. Before the 1970’s, logging in the Pacific Northwest was primarily the province of earth-bound men and machines. There had been interest in using helicopters for logging in the 1950’s and 60’s, but until the development of heavy-lifting copters for military use in the Vietnam War, the aircraft couldn’t handle the weight of heavy timber.