rambopacker, I don't know if the fatalities were due to the crosscut over chainsaw thing or not, but the wilderness policies of the USFS were questioned quite a bit during the fire season a couple of years ago in Montana where those folks got killed. As for the amount of work that can be done with a crosscut, that is pretty undeniable, the great white pine forests of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota can attest to that. As far as the safety issue though, most of the old time lumber jacks I knew as a kid, those that had taken part in that mighty endeavor, were known as "Lefty" "One Arm Bill" or "Stubby" so I guess if you screw up with an axe or a crosscut, the result can be just as devastating.
If I were 30 years younger, I might take you up on the offer of joining one of your crews but that is not to be.