An article in the February 2000 Journal of Forestry predicts an end to tree cutting on the National Forests. Tree cutting is one of the mainstays of stand tending that the forestry profession has used for centuries, and for the public lands of the United States for about a century. While cessation of this means of stand tending may seem a little extreme to many of us, in reality we are closer to that point now than you think. Throughout most of the twentieth century net growth rates have far exceeded removals. Recent figures show that, for Forest Service Regions One through Four, net growth is more than three times removal rates; now nearly everywhere you look forests are being choked to death by too many trees.