Disputes between the timber industry, public forest land managers, federal and state regulatoryagencies, and environmental groups from the 1980s through the early 2000s resulted inpolarization and distrust across forest communities of the American West. These "Timber Wars"centered on the conservation of old-growth forests and biodiversity, and the decliningsocio-economic status of many timber-dependent communities. The disputes were complex, witharguments over values, identity, and environmental governance. They involved legal, cultural,discursive, and at times violent battles between adversaries.For this issue of the Humboldt Journal of Social Relations (HJSR), activists, forest managers,and agency officials who were involved provide a range of vantage point retrospectives on theTimber Wars. In addition, a number of multi-disciplinary academic researchers from fieldsincluding geography, anthropology, economics, and sociology focus on how communities andstakeholders have emerged from the conflicts to face newly-emerging challenges of forest landmanagement. These authors address change and community resilience, diversifying economies,gender role evolution, stakeholder collaboration and involvement in forest management, nationalpolicies, and related issues of trust and power. Their work contributes new perspectives to thelong-standing engagement of social scientists with forest management and forest communities.