Upcountry hills were rich with timber which was harvested from the earliest years to build the County's towns and ranches. With the onset of WWII, however, when lumber was declaired a critical resource, the industry boomed.  In the late 1930s and early 1940s, major road improvements and electrification enabled the construction of modern lumber mills.  Hundreds of workers immigrated to the area, with the flush times continuing into the 1960s when the mills closed.