The Dark Side of Hunger Mountain

Like so many other hollowed-out communities in the land of opportunity and plenty, the town of Silvercreek—nestled in the deep forests of Washington State's Olympic Peninsula and surrounded by some of the planet's most valuable timber—is going broke. Conflicts over how to care for the forests have eroded public trust in forest communities; its residents are in hopeless despair, surrounded by a government-owned and neglected landscape that is a tinderbox.

Between all the business closures and...