With one tree able to produce as much as 400 pounds of food a year, using the Maya nut prevents rain forest clear-cutting to harvest other foods and increases populations' food supplies.

CNN: Maya nut changes lives while aiding the rain forest

The problem is that while clear-cutting sections of rain forest and burning out all the underbrush makes great soil for pastureland, it only does so for about three years.

CNN: The death of Z�� Cl��udio and Maria

But what sparked a backlash was Maxxam's clear-cutting of old-growth sequoias like those in the 7, 000-acre Headwaters forest.

FORBES: Timber!

Many tributaries running through the forest had dried up due to wide-spread clear-cutting and they said fertilizers were polluting the water.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Over the past decade, Brazil has cracked down on clear-cutting, especially in the biodiverse Amazon rain forest, reducing the rate of deforestation by 80%.

CNN: Brazil delays vote on bill regulating deforestation

Earlier forest blockades, by Greenpeace and others, showed up the logging companies' destructive practices, such as over-cutting, too-large clear-cuts, and damage not only to the forests but to salmon streams.

ECONOMIST: A surprise in the woods