The August coup - US Forest Service and timber policy

Sierra, Jan-Feb, 1992 by Paul Rauber

"Civil servants must be allowed to do their jobs without the undue influence of the monied and the powerful and fear of political reprisal," said Sikorski, whose subcommittee is continuing its investigation. "We will get the truth."

Despite the scandal it provoked, the recent head-rolling in the Rockies made its point. "This was a way of crushing dissent very openly," says Sierra Club Washington, D.C., lobbyist Jim Blomquist. "I think industry likes the fact that it was so public: When you can do that and get away with it, it shows how powerful you really are."