Clear+Cut+Logging

What is clear cut logging? Clear cut logging,( also known as [|clearfelling] ), can happen in any type of enviormental area. It's a form of cutting trees in which most or all of the trees in an area are cut down. Clear cut logging can effect the environment many different ways. A better way to cut down trees is to [|selectivly cut.](1) or cut down only some of the trees in an area. There are two different ways to clear cut the first is to cut as little to five acres and the second is to cut up to 200 acres. When you selectivly cut down a forest, both the humans and the animals benifit... the humans cut down some of their trees for their leisure time while at the same time, the animals still have room for their homes. When you clear cut, you destroy and/or demolish these areas. Some examples of clear cut logging and selectivly cut logging is: http://www.grinningplant.com/2005/05-03/clear-cut-old-growth-forest-article.htm = How does it effect the environment? = = = = = When you do clear cutting in an area, the plants in that area (and occationally other areas) can't grow for up to five years.( sometimes it can end up as more or less than five years.) When the trees leave an area, the nutrients leave with them. Clear-cutting effects the water clearity and the water supply by increasing runoff and/or flooding. With the extra sediment, algal blooms begin to strive.(2) (See algal blooms) With the water's clearity at a high, animals, mostly fish, can't see or breathe very well: the higher the clarity, the lower the dissolved oxygen. To cut down all the trees in an area, big machines are used to cut them down. Those machines then cause harmful gases that can and do get released in the air if not used properly.( the main gases that are emitted into the air are: [|pollution and green house gases]) (4) The pollution and green house gases in the air can make it hard for plants and animals to get the clean oxygen they need to live. Clear cut logging also can effect the animals in the area: the trees provide food and ¹homage ( see the bottom of the page ) for them. Destroying the trees means the animals will have to die or leave that area. This can lead to other animals leaving and dying.( when to many animals leave and die in an area, those animal species can become endangered. Also, during the replanting stage new plants are more likely to grow and that can change the various forms of wildlife. This making the area much simpler and the forest is more likely to get disease or harmful insects. The diseases and the insects can further destroy the habbitat and that can kill and moveanimals out of the area (1). (4) Because of the erosion, the stream gravel decreases ( gets eroded away ) which is bad for salmon eggs. Clear cutting also ffects other animals like: birds,squirrels,deer, and some other type of fish.( trout, blue gill, rainbow, and much, much more). Clear cut logging is not only dangerous to plants and animals, but is also dangerous to humans. Clear cutting can lead to lots of trees being cut down. Sometimes humans don't need all of the wood, so they burn it. That leads to air and lung pollution. If you breathe in to much smoke, you could die from the lack of clean oxygen.(see [|environmental effects])
 * Clear Cut Logging - Consrtuction: humans clear the whole area to build a town.
 * Selectivly Cut Logging - Constuction- clearing a small area to build a house.
 * Clear Cut Logging - Constuction: clear an area for farming....

http://i.treehugger.com/images/2007/10/24/charcoal.jpg(6) Above is a picture of people burning the remains of what they clear cut. As you can see, alot of smoke is emerging from the wood pile. This harms both the air and the people. =Clear-cutting Myths= There are a lot of myths about clear-cut logging. One of these is that logging companies barely break even. This is not true because small companies just add to the value of big companies' products. Another myth is that there is nothing unusual about clear-cut logging: "it mimics forest fires." Since we replant the area it "greens up" after 2 years and then after 50 years you can't tell a difference. That is not true because all the fertile soil is taken away. (7) (see [|myths]) People say that even though selectivly cut forests are better, clear cut logging is safer for the workers cutting down the trees.
 * If they don't sell the wood for their company's business, they'll run out of their busniss
 * " We must cut down the wood because it is so much cheaper than buying the wood."
 * Many people also think that making small reserves is better than doing nothing to the trees.

Below is a picture of what an area looks like before and after you clear cut:  



http://img-fan.theonering.net/rolozo/images/nasmith/TN-Fangorn_Forest.jpg  Other facts about clear cut logging. ²Silvicultural clear cut, is when you, [|"remove every stem"] Another type of clear-cutting is when you leave one are two trees. This is called [|variable retention]. (8) =Vocab=

__**²**__silvicultural clear cut- remove everything from a forest, including the roots.__**
 * __¹homage- shelter.

Source:(1) http://www.aces.edu/N4HFI/Forestry_Manuals/unitb4.pdf Source:(2) __Clear Cut Logging in Kananaskis.__ 2005. Kananaskis. 18 Dec. 2008 http://www.braggcreek.ca/forest/clearcut_logging.htm Source:(3) __Hydrobiologia.__  SpringerLink. 6 Jan. 2009 http://www.springerlink.com/content/3j836m714jt68x10/ Source:(4) http://www.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid20060901190013AAbGhUq Source:(5) __ Why is Clear-cutting bad for the Environment? __ 2008-2009 Wise Geek Jan 6 2008 http://www.wisegeek.com/why-is-clearcutting-bad-for-the-environment.htm Source:(6) __Tree hugger__ Jan. 6 2009 http://i.treehugger.com/images/2007/10/24/charcoal.jpg http://www.wildernesscommittee.org/campaigns/wildlands/vancouver_island/reports/Vol13No02/debunking __Source:(7) Debunking the seven great myths of industrial clearcut forestry. __ __Wilderness Committee. Jan. 7 2009__ Source:(8) __ A clearcut case of variable retention. __ Dec. 2004. Spruce roots. Jan. 9 2009 http://www.spruceroots.org/Dec04/Tree.html
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