Went for a quad ride up on the mountain and traveled some spur roads I haven’t been on in quite a while. One of them went to a landing where I cut firewood back about 20 years ago. This is all that remains of what was a big, big pile of small Hemlock logs. Made for easy cutting as it was right above the road and everything was just the right size to only need one split. For a Saturday, it was really quiet up there. Had the whole mountain to myself to ride at my leisure. Found what appears to be the start of a new clear cut so there might be some wood available close to home next year. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
If they log early fall it should be available for cutting in the spring. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Why do they clear cut out west? When they log here in the midwest it is more selective only taking the trees they want. I hope that doesn't come off condescending or anything I am really just wanting to know.
Is the new wood to be logged all standing green for the most part? Thatll be nice after cutting what youve been working on IMO.
With exceptions. If you head north where there are large stands of popple, they clear cut many, many acres at a time. That is because popple comes back from the roots of the tree.
Don't know the answer, but guessing it has something to do with creating gaps so forest fires can be controlled. They have so many out there. Again this is only a guess.
A lot of it has to do with the terrain being so rough, it’s not productive to selective cut once the trees are mature. They have changed methods over the years and now usually do a thinning or two some years after planting. They don’t want too much sunlight penetrating as it causes lots of limbs which decreases the values of the trees. I think they do thinning now as the equipment is available that will do this task without a lot of manpower. They used to burn the debris as it lay in the clear cuts and this eliminated most of the debris and allowed the newly planted trees to make a good head start before the brush started growing. Contrary to what people think, a brushy clearcut will provide a better habitat for wildlife than a stand of timber, because there is a lot more food available. Also, the brush will provide more oxygen than a stand of timber so is actually better for the environment. Now that they can’t burn, a lot of the debris is left to rot on the ground or they put what they can move into piles to burn but it leaves a bigger mess than the way they burned them before. They manually plant new trees, as opposed to the old days when they would aerial seed which produced trees very close together which caused slow growth. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I live in California, in the middle of lands that are clear cut. They are privately owned. It is more efficient to clear cut because it can be done principally with machines. The land owner decides whether to do a selective or clear cut. Smaller land owners frequently choose to selectively cut, allowing smaller but more frequent harvests, providing a steadier cash flow. Sierra Pacific (SPI), which owns millions of acres, has sufficient holdings that a 60 or 90 year harvest frequency has no effect on cash flow. They conduct selective cuts where it is visible to the public or in areas where clear cutting is impractical or not permitted, but otherwise practice clear cutting. The size of the clear cuts and proximity to other clear cuts is regulated, hence the checkerboard appearance in satellite photos. The land owner must submit a THP (timber harvest plan) for approval before conducting the harvest. To my knowledge, clear cuts are not permitted on public (principally federal) lands, at least in the coniferous forests here in California. SPI recently conducted a selective cut along the road to my house. Notices were posted on trees adjacent to the road to inform the public of the intent to harvest, including a map of proposed harvest boundaries. A forester walked the entire area and marked all the trees to be left. A preliminary, thinning harvest was conducted, removing the smaller trees. Two years later, the final cut was conducted, removing the largest and most valuable trees. The slash was left where it lay. A year after the final cut, a machine that looked like a large excavator with an over-size flail mower created a fire-break by grinding the slash in a wide path parallel to the state highway.
