Clear Cut Logging and Other Options
Have you ever awakened on a beautiful sunny morning in the Southwest planning on
going for a hike in the Cascade Mountains, but when you arrive at your destination
there are only stumps? This is the result of clear-cut logging. The negative aspects of
logging, by far, outweigh the benefits. Clear-cut logging is the practice of harvesting
all the trees in a specifically marked area. Another logging method is a selective cut
which is the harvesting of some trees to open the canopy so the remaining trees can
grow faster. Last but not least, is the practice of salvage logging. This results in the
harvesting of dead or dying trees, either in a selective or clear-cut method. Over time,
clear-cut logging has been used for a variety of reasons. They include, but are not
limited to, generating revenue, the maximum production of wood fiber for its many
uses, and clearing land for houses and businesses. Clear-cut logging possesses some
positive outcomes and some negative outcomes. The positives of clear-cut logging
include: The increased amount of jobs available, which in turn betters America's
economy by generating revenue, the chance for prevention of catastrophic fires, and
the bettering of forest health. Another benefit is the production of wood products, and
the access provided to the public from the logging roads. On the other hand, the
negatives of clear-cut logging include the increased amount of sedimentation in
streams and rivers, the increase in water temperatures, the degradation of fish and
wildlife habitat, the increased chance for fires, and the soil compacting caused by
heavy logging machinery.
Clear-cut logging benefits America's economy in several w...
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...n the Ponderosa Pine start very high up, so fires
spreading do not ignite these trees. But when clear-cut logging occurs, Lodge Pole
Pine replaces the Ponderosa Pine in very dense stands increasing the chances for fires
to catch and become catastrophic.
There are several reasons why clear-cut, selective, and salvage logging
techniques have been used. A few include: the economic benefit, the increase in
forest health, an the maximum production of wood fiber for its many uses. Although
clear-cut logging may provide economic benefits, we now see why it is so detrimental
to the environment. Even though here in the Southwest the economy outweighs the
ecosystem, everyday the ecosystem is catches up a little bit to the economy. It is our
job as a nation to ensure that future generations can enjoy a beautiful forest and a
wonderful wildlife to go with it.
This practice is a quick and economically inexpensive method or clearing land for grazing or raising crops. It is accomplished by cutting down all the trees and brush in an area, as fast as possible (Slash) and then setting fire to the area, to get rid of all of the mess (Burn). It has proved to be a quite efficient way to pointlessly destroy the forest, because the land shortly becomes arid and barren without the trees there to maintain it's former richness. This is compounded by the lack of crop-rotation, which only speeds up the process of dry des...
The controversy over logging, and more specifically clearcutting, is not a new issue in America. Ever since the 1920's and 1930's, when this nation started to become conscious of conservation, citizens have weighed the consequences of logging. Critics have questioned whether the increase in jobs, tax dollars, and economic growth was worth the destruction of forest lands. Regardless of what they believe today, the logging industry had become so efficient that by the late 1980's nearly 100,000 acres of federal land had been clearcut since the industry began. Logging technology has advanced rapidly in terms of speed, to meet the increasing demands for lumber, paper, and other products derived from trees. This in turn has greatly impacted the environment by severely degrading watersheds, leading to increased soil erosion, the diminution in the quality of drinking water, and the decline of fish stocks, among many other consequences. In this essay I will examine the progression of logging equipment throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and discuss how these changes in technology have not only changed the relationship of those who work in the industry, but also haw this has changed the wider relationship of society and nature.
The history of logging goes back to the vast ponderosa pine forests of the southern Colorado Plateau in the 1870’s and 1880’s with the harvest of railroad ties and other products for construction of the transcontinental railroad. At first, the companies only wanted the big, high-grade ponderosa pine trees. They soon realized that the big trees run out and are hard to transport. In the 1920’s, new technology including chainsaws, bulldozers, and logging trucks allowed the logging companies to harvest at a much greater rate. By the depression, there were m...
b) Logging has impacted this special ecosystem. There are trees that are hundreds of years old and their timber is being pushed to be sold for high prices. After World War 2 the Australian economy was booming and timber was in demand. A number of timber mills where made near the Daintree for the purpose of cutting down the forest for the use in infra...
Logging is a noble and difficult profession; the success is measured by the number of lumber produced and number of lives that are spared in the cause of producing the lumber. It has continued in this way for several generations, timber is cut, collect, and moved out of the wood for post processing. Deep in the woods, loggers cut trees and produce lumber, the work is back breaking and dangerous, a falling timber can crush and kill. The machines involved in cutting down trees, the method of operation, government safety standard and regulations relating to wood logging industry have all evolved over time since the existence of the industry. But even with more sophisticated equipment and machineries, wood logging remains brutal and a tough job.
Deforestation is fast becoming one of the world’s worst environmental/geographical occurring disasters known to mankind, and is due to humankind’s greed, ignorance and carelessness when considering the future of our environment.
Though deforestation has increased at an alarming rate throughout the past fifty years, deforestation has been performed during the course of history. According to the World Resources Institute, a majority of the world’s enduring naturally occurring forests are found in Alaska, Canada, Russia and the Northwestern Amazon. Research has demonstrated forests are more likely to be destroyed and repurposed where economic revenues tied to agriculture and pasture are prominent, typically attributed to advantageous weather conditions, or lower expenses of demolishing the forest and delivering merchandises to the global
The devastating effects of hunting are made worse by logging companies that “provide the physical and social infrastructure for this anarchic exploitation. They supply the roads, workers, and ammunition to carry out this growing un-policed commercial enterprise. In the case of the Brazilian Amazon, the building of major roads for loggers to enter inaccessible regions has caused major forest loss, which directly threatens primate populations.
Tree removal service is necessary every now and then especially if you have trees that threaten to damage your house or property. It is also crucial when trees are blocking a driveway or sidewalk. Similarly, tree limbing is needed when there are too many branches hindering sunlight to pass into your house or garden. There a lot of do-it-yourself methods of tree removal and tree limbing. However, this job is not easy and requires immense expertise to do it safely.
Wood is said to be vastly depleting since the late 1970’s from logging and deforestation. But
On the second article,"Dig Deeper" it explains what arborists do we when a tree is about to
The single biggest direct cause of tropical deforestation is conversion to cropland and pasture, mostly for subsistence, which is growing crops or raising livestock to meet daily needs. The conversion to agricultural land usually results from multiple direct factors. For example, countries build roads into remote areas to improve overland transportation of goods. The road development itself causes a limited amount of deforestation. But roads also provide entry to previously inaccessible—and often unclaimed—land. Logging, both legal and illegal, often follows road expansion (and in some cases is the reason for the road expansion). When loggers have harvested an area’s valuable timber, they move on. The roads and the logged areas become a magnet for settlers—farmers and ranchers who slash and burn the remaining forest for cropland or cattle pasture, completing the deforestation chain that began with road building. In other cases, forests that have been degraded by logging become fire-prone and are eventually deforested by repeated accidental fires from adjacent farms or pastures.
Scientists themselves are just beginning to understand the serious problems caused by deforestation. Deforestation occurs all over the world by all types of people. Peasant farmers even add to the problem because in most tropical countries the farmers are very poor only making between eight hundred and fifty four hundred dollars annually (NASA Facts). Therefore, they do not have enough money to buy what they need to live therefore they must farm to raise crops for food and to sell. In these poor countries the majority of people are peasant farmers this farming adds up to a great deal of deforestation. These farmers chop down a small area of trees for there plot to farm on and burn the tree trunks (NASA Facts). The combined number of farmers maintaining this process creates a great deal of clearing and burning of the land they need to cultivate, which results in land being treeless. Commercial logging is also another common form of deforestation. This commercial logging wipes out massive amounts of land sometimes deforesting several miles at...
study of young and old forests says how this is in fact not true. Loggers have
once again means the felling of trees. You can work out that only 1 of