INDEX -- In the shadow of towering Douglas firs, two deer stop and stare at a small group of humans wandering toward them.

Ninety years ago, deer like these had no place to hide. All of Heybrook Ridge was bare, and the town in the valley below was thriving.

Few complained back then about the denuded hillside. Logging and the carving of granite blocks out of nearby mountains put Index on the map. The straight, fine-grained timber was the best on the market. The granite was also choice -- used to build the steps of the state Capitol.

But last year, when the logging company WB Foresters proposed another clearcut on the ridge, town folk rallied against the idea.

"I was stunned," said Debbie Buse, who helps her father run the company. "Obviously, the demographics of the town have changed significantly. I figured there would still be old-timers."

Faced with petitions, Buse and her father decided to work with the town and gave the objectors one year -- a deadline of June 8, 2008 -- to raise $1.3 million.

That's what it'll cost to buy the 95 acres that serve as a deep-green backdrop to this Snohomish County town of 150 people.

"Of all the forest practices we have had, this is the first to be challenged," Buse said recently.

WB Foresters estimates that the trees dotting Heybrook Ridge -- a mix of firs, cedars and alders -- are worth nearly a million dollars. The land is the last large section of privately owned timber bordering Index -- the state of Washington and the U.S. Forest Service have protected the rest.

Alarmed by the possibility of losing their scenic backdrop, residents formed the non-profit Friends of Heybrook Ridge. Furthering their community's metamorphosis into an outdoor recreation oasis, residents want to set the ridge aside as a preserve and educational site, with interpretive trails and an overlook. They believe their economy depends on it.

"It's like living in a nest," Yong Kim, owner of the Index General Store, said of the towering trees and steep ridges fringing the town.

So far, the group has raised about $8,000. An art fair is planned this summer, a hoedown is on tap this fall. But the real hope lies with the high-powered Cascade Land Conservancy, which is helping the people of Index find major donors.

Cate Burnett of Index, who makes her living marking trees under power lines that need cutting, is well aware of the irony. She and others in the fundraising group make their living from the forest. Some have even worked as loggers, cutting old growth off the slopes of the town's namesake mountain.

They all live in wood-frame houses. And yet they're dead set against more backyard logging.

"The bottom line is we live in this sweet town with this beautiful viewshed," Burnett said. "But that's all we have."