Forestry is MUCH different than in the 80s. Things that Oregon State University School of Forestry, arguably top in the nation, have been finding through research are getting implemented -- often with more opposition from bureaucrats screaming "We've always done it this way!" than from loggers.
The way has been paved by some private companies who have followed the OSU research and implemented findings they thought looked solid. I hunted a few years back in an area where a private company had gotten two 160-acre timber sales side by side. They'd left small clusters of trees, centered around excellent examples of the species, left strips of trees in the canyon bottoms, and left other strips of tree connected so the 320-acre area was sliced into eight different pieces, following the OSU conclusion that clear cuts should be no more than 40 acres. In the areas that were cut, they burned some patches and spread seeds of native meadow plants in a couple, chipped the "slash" (all the wood left behind after dragging out logs) and spread it, made a number of piles of slash, which serve as habitat for a variety of small critters, and left a few stretches where the slash just lay as it was, simulating blow-downs. These were all separated by replanted areas, some of which were planted in alder, vine maple, and other trees which normally spring up when a section of forest is planted, and the rest of which was planted in five different species of trees (Douglas fir, white fir, western hemlock, blue spruce, western red cedar). The planting was done with seedlings of different ages. All of that was derived from OSU Forestry research papers.
For the logging roads they came up with their own thing: instead of leaving a rough rock surface, most of it 3" crushed, they spread coarse river sand over it, just enough so some rock tips were still exposed. Then they seeded it with a mix of two native clovers, a couple of well-established imported clovers, vetch, lupine... and alfalfa.
Deer and elk like clover, but they love alfalfa.
