Katherine Evatt isn't the only one who can't see the forest for the trees. It's not surprising that many people are alarmed to see good forest practices at work. A few acres of downed trees don't square with their notion of what a healthy forest is supposed to look like.

Ironically, it's what they don't see that tells the real story. They don't know that the robust stands of foothill conifers nearby, filled with wildlife and natural wonders, are themselves the product of decades of sound forestry practices – including commercial harvesting.

The debate over cutting trees has raged for generations, often without facts to back up either side. Few people had ever bothered to actually go into a forest to study it in place over time. But Sierra Pacific Industries has done that now for nearly two decades – with rigorous monitoring and assessment of commercial forestry practices, water quality, wildlife habitat, archaeological resources and native plants.

As an example, SPI has maintained permanent water quality monitoring stations within Shasta County's Battle Creek watershed – following EPA-approved protocols and testing by an EPA-certified laboratory – taking measurements for temperature and turbidity every 15 minutes, every day for the past nine years. Independently verified data from those stations and testing for the presence of herbicides demonstrate that water quality there can support salmon, trout and other fish species.

Since 1992, SPI has commercially and sustainably harvested within the forest for 22 miles upstream of the state's fish hatchery on Battle Creek, an important local tributary to the Sacramento River.

At the direction of John Laird, California's secretary for Natural Resources, an interagency state task force team recently completed a study to determine the suitability of forestry operations to maintain water quality in the greater Battle Creek area, upstream of the $128 million project to restore salmon and steelhead. That group found no connection between modern managed forestry practices and harm to local streams.

What the task force did find was that runoff from public and private roads does contribute small to moderate amounts of sediment to nearby waterways, and it recommended improvements be made to these roads. Sierra Pacific is helping tackle that problem and is committed to working with responsible public and private sources to improve road maintenance.

Broader studies have shown that California's management practices reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires that dump thousands of tons of greenhouse gas pollution into the atmosphere, with impacts across nations. That is an environmental benefit that casual observers can't "see" when they look at a recently cut patch of forest.

What many also don't see is society's demand for a sustainable source of building products and other consumer goods – a demand that can't be met through "thinning" or salvage operations after forest fires. They also don't see the 3,000 people who hold jobs today with Sierra Pacific, or the 7,000 jobs that the U.S. Forest Service estimates exist because of Sierra Pacific's commercial forestry operations.

Companies like SPI that do business in California are held to some of the toughest standards in the world. Wood that isn't produced commercially in California sufficient to meet the demand must be imported from Malaysia, Brazil and other places with far less regulation, posing threats to the environment unimaginable in the Golden State.

So, the next time you see a few mountain acres that have been cleared of trees, keep in mind what you don't see – healthy nearby forests where trees have grown back using environmentally sound practices and a sustainable source of wood products from California's own well-regulated forests.

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Daniel Tomascheski, vice president of resources for Sierra Pacific Industries, is responding to the Nov. 20 Viewpoints article "Sierra Pacific's clear-cuts impoverish forests, economy," which said: "Clear-cuts destroy existing wildlife habitat. … And clear-cuts tear at the hearts of those of us who love the Sierra's forests."

• Read more articles by Daniel Tomascheski