Clearcutting

Logging companies and forest-worker unions in some countries support the practice for scientific, safety and economic reasons, while detractors consider it a form of deforestation that destroys natural habitats[4] and contributes to climate change.

[citation needed] It also may create detrimental side effects, such as the loss of topsoil, the costs of which are intensely debated by economic, environmental and other interests.

In Russia, North America and Scandinavia, creating protected areas and granting long-term leases to tend and regenerate trees—thus maximizing future harvests—are among the means used to limit the harmful effects of clearcutting.

[citation needed] A clearcut is distinguished from selective logging where typically only a few trees per hectare are harvested in proportions dictated by management objectives.

[citation needed] Environmental groups criticize clear-cutting as destructive to water, soil, wildlife, and atmosphere, and recommend the use of sustainable alternatives.

Clear-cutting in forests removes the trees which would otherwise have been transpiring large volumes of water and also physically damages the grasses, mosses, lichens, and ferns populating the understory.

Removal or damage of the biota reduces the local capacity to retain water, which can exacerbate flooding and lead to increased leaching of nutrients from the soil.

When the roads required by the clearcutting were factored in, the increase in slide activity appeared to be about 5 times greater compared to nearby forested areas.

[19] Clearcutting may lead to increased stream flow during storms, loss of habitat and species diversity, opportunities for invasive and weedy species, and negative impacts on scenery,[20] specifically, a growth of contempt by those familiar with the area for the wooded, planet aftermaths,[21] as well as a decrease in property values; diminished recreation, hunting, and fishing opportunities.

[29] Generally, a harvest area wider than double the height of the adjacent trees will no longer be subject to the moderating influence of the woodland on the microclimate.

[citation needed] Clearcutting can be used by foresters as a method of mimicking a natural disturbance and increasing primary successional species, such as poplar (aspen), willow and black cherry in North America.

Clearcutting has also proved to be effective in creating animal habitat and browsing areas, which otherwise would not exist without natural stand-replacing disturbances such as wildfires, large scale windthrow, or avalanches.

While deer may not be at risk in cities and rural countryside, where they can be seen running through neighbourhoods and feeding on farms, in higher altitude areas they require forest shelter.

Since implemented, this program has led to large-scale clearcutting and monoculture tree planting,[34] and research by the University of Maine's Sustainability Solutions Initiative has found that 8,000,000 acres (3,200,000 ha) of certified forest land in (primarily northern) Maine is being overharvested, leading to reduced long-term stability of timber harvests and increased erosion and pollution in the watershed.