Pros And Cons Of Clearcutting

As our society turns our focus to the earth’s environmental status, the controversy between whether new age clearcutting is a viable method to be used in the forestry industry is a trending topic between environmental groups and forestry corporations of the world. While one side, environmentalists, argue that clearcutting is the death of a forest, increases erosion, and nearly eliminates wildlife habitats, the accuracy of these statements is false. Clearcutting, a method of Silviculture, is effective when used to meet various forest management objectives such as assurance of successful regeneration and effective utilization of commercial timber, because it allows shade intolerant tree species to regenerate, successfully control forests insects
Steve Greenburg, a political cartoonist, depicts these sentiments in his cartoon titled “On a clearcut day…”, in which he illustrates a series of newly clearcut hills, each depicting a common view on the false effects these cuts had on the environment and its inhabitants, which include species extinction, soil ruination, mudslides, and more. These false accusations made against clearcutting, are a somber look at how the public views this important method and how a vast majority of people are largely misinformed about the practice as well as its many benefits on the environment. As discussed earlier, clearcutting is an important Silviculture method in producing successful regenerations of tree species, by providing the right environment to grow declining population species such as the Douglas Fir, and Loblolly Pin, as well as providing an alternative to pesticides by providing land that can be burned then replanted upon, to stop the spread of invasive plants and pathogens to other forests and human communities. Clearcutting however is also a method that improves the overall productivity and success of a clearcut by eliminating the weaker species, and enhancing the stronger stand. Since clearcutting causes timber to grow from the ground up, the future crop of timber will only be comprised ideally of the fastest, healthiest, straightest, tallest, and highest quality trees, because the unwanted growth will not be able to compete for resources; As a result producing a uniform stand that ultimately contains all usable timber. Clearcutting provides the answer to the question timber corporations are frequently pressured to answer: “How are you working to produce less waste?”, with clearcutting they can answer by only growing the most uniform crop, thus eliminating the