Foreign guest laborers take jobs most Americans don't want. But the 15,000+ men and women who travel here to work in the woods are hardly offered our hospitality. On public and private land, these "pineros" (forest workers) suffer injury, abuse, even death. They are victims of employer exploitation, government neglect and a contracting system that insulates landowners - including the U.S. government - from responsibility.
A Sacramento Bee nine-month special investigative report.