Logging
By Frank Keeney
283220
English 102 035W
Leslie Jewkes
03/08/2011
Revised 4/29/2011
ABSTRACT
Deforestation is happening across the world and certain types of logging are a part of deforestation. In the Pacific Northwest is where there are current local issues on logging. The cons of deforestation are by cutting out large areas of the forest without replacing the trees that are being cut down. It affects the natural habitat of animals that live in the forest. The pros of logging in the Pacific Northwest are clearing of areas for new homes and business. It also produces materials that people use every day, and it helps sustain new growth for different species for the habitat and does not create a uniform forest that is less usable. Through the World Health Organization, one goal is to ensure environmental sustainability and currently deforestation is not contributing to that goal, but there are ways to still use the forest as a renewable resource and ensure environmental sustainability.
Logging
People can walk out of local lumber industry to see an enormous crowd of protesters against logging in the local forest. The protesters were carrying signs and handing out flyers to any passer-bys that would take them. They were all yelling that logging is only killing the forest and polluting the air with the machines that are being used. If they are going to protest a company because they were cutting down trees, why are the protesters using materials that come from trees? Why are they complaining about the pollution the machines were creating when they, themselves, left behind a huge mess of paper and cardboard on the ground, the litter was polluting the earth that they were trying to protect? It’s funny to hear or read about people that are against logging, but the irony is that the people protesting logging are using many of the materials that are produced from logging in everyday life. Logging is encouraged and discouraged throughout the world. While many things contribute to deforestation, logging done properly is necessary for everyday living, will help the environment, and help to ensure environmental sustainability.
Deforestation is happening across the world and there are definite effects on the Earth. One part of deforestation is logging. Logging is where people go out into the forest and cut down trees so that people can have certain resources they may need. Logging can be done primarily three different ways: clear-cut, shelter-wood, and selective logging. Clear-cut logging is cutting down a large section or sections of a forest for human use or agriculture. “The biggest driver in deforestation is agriculture. Farmers cut forests to provide more room for planting crops or grazing livestock” (National Geographic). Clear-cut logging is seen as the worst and selective logging as the best. Logging is an important part of the world; however, there are different points of view on logging.
There are many groups, activists, and people that feel logging is not important to our society or economy, and is destructive to our environment. There are a few ideas that fuel this fire. One is that logging is destroying our forests by clear-cutting. The idea is that if logging is not stopped, then the polar caps are going to be gone and so will the earth. Clear-cutting is a big part of all of the forests depleting, with loggers creating new areas for agriculture in certain parts of the world, and in other parts, housing developments. “Clear-cutting, or clear felling, is a logging practice which involves completely clearing an area of trees, regardless of their sizes and usability” (Smith).
Another issue with clear-cutting by individuals is the thought that wildlife habitat is destroyed. “Clear-cutting also destroys habitat for a wide variety of animals, including many endangered species. Birds, reptiles, and mammals all face habitat destruction due to clear cutting” (Smith). Forests are important to provide habitat to many animals and birds and clear cutting can have some effect on these habitats. Clear-cutting in some situations is a good practice for logging, it may be a site for sore eyes for a time, but it can help the forest and the habitat of animals that are in an area that clear-cutting is going on. In fact, as the old forest growth is cut back, then new open habitat is created for different types of wildlife, like elk, that thrive in more open habitat with first succession species, then older-growth, denser habitat.
Clear-cutting may also affect local rivers. “Forest management activities may substantially alter the quality of water draining forests, and are regulate as nonpoint sources of pollution” (Binkley). So as the forests are cut back, erosional deposition increases into the rivers causing pollution, but it is managed in regions of North America for these practices. River temperatures also rise as the forests are cut due to direct sunlight heating the streams within the forests that were once shaded. With rivers temperatures on the rise from the lack of trees on the shore lines, the carbon footprint will also start to rise.
Another reason against logging and clear-cutting is the carbon footprint. Trees and plants take in carbon dioxide that is produced by all animals, if trees keep getting cut down, then the carbon is going to increase which increases the carbon footprint. It is going to create problems for current and future generations. With clear-cutting still a large part of logging, the total carbon stored in the forest ecosystem declines. In an interview, Matt Ash, a local logging driver said in regards to clear-cutting, “You’re not leaving protective cover for the new seedlings that would be starting to grow.” In order to stop this decline, then damaged caused by clear-cutting should be decreased. “Reduction in logging damage can result in increased carbon retention in forest biomass” (Pinard). With the damage of clear cutting or even logging it decreases the capacity of carbon intake from a huge resource. “Only when carbon sequestration in growth and recruitment exceeds carbon losses in death and decay will total carbon storage increase” (Pinard). It would be nice to keep the planet green and not turn it into a carbon dioxide dump that can’t sustain life.
With clear-cutting being a problem some people don’t take in the aspect of illegal logging. “’Illegal logging is a problem that crosses national boundaries to affect communities, companies, and ecosystems alike,’ said Rep. Blumenauer” (Butler 2007). With illegal loggers breaking the laws that have already been put into effect, there is nothing to stop them from destroying more forests than loggers doing it by the book. “Illegal logging is estimated to cost the U.S. timber industry $960 million to 1.16 billion per year in lost sales” (Butler 2007). This timber is used in forest product throughout the US. There needs to be a stop to the destruction of our forests through illegal logging. This will help to reduce the impact of logging on the forests.
Illegal logging is the hurting both sides of people that are against or for logging. Illegal logging not only gives legal loggers a bad rap, it gives activists extra ammunition for protesting logging. With illegal loggers out cutting trees, it creates a smaller window for law abiding loggers. It creates major problems for the logging companies that do it by the book. It takes away the possibility of them being able to log trees. When there is illegal logging in progress, they cut trees or large areas that do not or should not be cut. Illegal logging needs to be stopped. While illegal logging is going on, it’s going to hurt the sustainability of the forests.
“While many people think of clear cutting as a harvest decision, forest landowners often choose to clear-cut because of the regeneration needs of the tree species that will be grown in the future” (Idaho Forests Products). Clear-cutting is a large part of sustaining the forest in the Pacific Northwest. It creates healthier forests by cutting down trees later in succession that are holding back the possible new growth of first successional species. When an area of forest has been clear cut, “Idaho law requires that new trees be growing within five years after harvest, and that trees be left as buffers around streams and retained for wildlife habitat” (Idaho Forest). Clear-cutting can destroy our forests if you completely ignore the state law and sustainable forestry practices.
“Clear-cutting is also used to renew areas damaged by insects, disease, windstorms or fire or to create wildlife habitat for specific species” (Idaho Forest). Not only does clear cutting improve the forests it creates new species that have been held back from the trees that are being cut down from the clear cutting. “Disturbances, notably fires, insects, disease, and climate influence the direction of rate of change” (USDA). Without some of the changes, there are negative impacts as well, “some unanticipated side effects of intentional activities also have proved to be a negative, such as overly dense forest resulting from wildfire suppression” (USDA). Some clear-cut logging activities help to reduce these negatives, while selective logging really helps in these situations.
Sustainability on our forests is the most important part of keeping our forests healthy. Loggers know this and if logging is to continue, there has to be control and better management practices in order to renew and reuse the resource. Green peace groups think that logging companies are just out to make money. “Forests are cut down for many reasons, but most of them are related to money or to peoples need to provide their families” (National). Loggers are not out to completely deplete the forest, if that happened then they would be putting themselves out of work. Even though they do take from the forest they also replace the trees that they cut down. Sustainable Forestry Initiative stated, “Our forest certification standard is based on principles that promote sustainable forest management, including measures to protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat species at risk, and Forests with Exceptional Conservation value” (Sustainable). With organizations helping our forests, like the Sustainable Forest Initiative, we can continue logging and keep our forests healthy and there are many ways we can keep our forests healthy.
One is to log; companies come in and cut down certain parts of the forests to control the trees that are causing any issues. There are a couple ways to sustain a forest where logged; selective logging is having loggers going and cutting down marked trees that are or may cause problems with the health of the forest. The selective loggers do not go in and clear-cut an entire area. Selective logging is a better choice than clear-cutting in most situations. Different types of trees can then be used for different purposes, like pulp for paper and lumber for homes. Other ways to sustain the forest is to plant trees after harvesting, or using less intrusive ways of logging, like draft horse logging. Draft horse logging is still used in certain areas in the Pacific Northwest. This causes less damage to vegetation and other trees in the area and does not leave visible signs after even a week of the work being done. It is harder, longer work, but it helps sustain the forest. This old fashioned style does not require the need to for logging roads developed in forests which would help the sustainability of the forests because there wouldn’t be less chances of erosion around river or stream beds.
“In Idaho, Douglas fir beetle outbreaks are usually initiated by catastrophic events, such as blow down, or winter breakage. The downed or weakened trees caused by these events are very attractive and builds up large populations” (Idaho Dept. of Lands). Reducing the spread of insects or disease help to sustain the forests and ensure a natural renewable resource is another way to keep the forest healthy. Another thought on this is “to keeping the forest free of pests and catastrophic fire, the prescription is, where there are roads, log, where there are none, do prescribed burns” (Barringer).
Another way of sustaining the forest would be controlled burning. Control burning plays a large role in containing forest fires when Mother Nature hits. The control burn burns fallen timber or timber that is in the decomposition stage that is densely filling the forest floor. This helps to sustain the forest, so when an unwanted forest fire occurs it does not have as much fuel to feed on, therefore the unwanted forest fire does not burn as long compared to a too dense of forest floor vegetation. In turn, it will burn less of the forest that is still standing and healthy allowing for less vegetation being destroyed and living through a less detrimental fire. Forest experts believe that in active management of the forest, including commercial harvest. Professor Jay O’Laughlin, Director of Idaho Forest, Wildlife and Range said that, “the means of attaining forest restoration goals through active management are logging and prescribed burning, and these methods are not universally accepted. Some people distrust federal land management agencies, programs, and projects featuring active management” (Idaho Forest).
Overall, logging can affect the forest by taking away trees. Clear-cutting can affect wildlife, rivers, the carbon footprint, and illegal logging can increase these affects, but it also can help when used properly and managed to help wildlife and disturbances. The forests are affected by clear-cutting and it can have an effect on the environment that surrounds that certain area. However, if there was no logging practiced, the forest may not stay healthy. Logging helps the forest, without logging there wouldn’t be many materials that people use every day. Logging also helps prevent insects and diseases from spreading; with logging, areas that need to be taken care of to reduce the spread of the possible threats can be. While there may be some negative impacts from a specific type of logging, like clear0cutting, there are other options like selective logging that can really benefit the health of the forest. Many things contribute to deforestation, but logging done properly can help the environment and ensure environmental sustainability for current and future generations.
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