РефератыИностранный языкClClearCutting Of Forests Essay Research Paper ClearCutting

ClearCutting Of Forests Essay Research Paper ClearCutting

Clear-Cutting Of Forests- Essay, Research Paper


Clear-Cutting of Forests-


In the past three decades humans has cleared over half the


Earth s original forests. The only countries remaining that still


have significant areas of original forests are Russia, Brazil, and


Canada (Staff. 1997). Such devastation has occurred over these few


years as a result of clear-cut logging being practiced all around the


world. First, Loggers allow no time for re-forestation. In brief,


trees are being cut down faster than they can be re-planted. Second,


clear-cutting speeds up erosion and causes landslides, which are


mostly caused from road building and use. Third, BC makes up for 74%


of Canada s land dwelling mammals and 70% of breeding birds (Staff.


1997). Therefore in order to protect these animals, clear-cutting


must cease. Clear-cut logging in British Columbia must be abolished.


Large scale clear-cutting must be halted to allow people to


re-plant forests. Reforestation is happening in BC, but not fast


enough. Twelve years ago Mount Paxton was completely cleared of all


trees and shrubs that grew there (Hamilton, G. 1997, October 14), not


one tree was missed. Mistake piled upon mistake when Mount Paxton was


logged . Says environmentalist, Mark Haddock, of Forest Policy Watch.


Interfor [logging company that cleared Mount Paxton] originally cut


the mid-zone, and when a buffer strip along the ocean began to blow


down, the forest service had the strip logged. Then a slash fire got


out of control and burned the top. Under the rules of the day, the


forest service demanded Interfor then log the rest, despite two


appeals by the company that the slope was steep, rocky and unsafe to


work on. Fallers had to be lowered on ropes to cut the 40-metre-tall


trees. Is it any wonder rains washed the exposed soils away?


(Hamilton, G. 1997, October 14)


Afterwards, no one bothered to re-plant on Mount Paxton. It s


coastal side, exposed to wind and rain, remains bare to this very day.


It was an ecological disaster, Gordon Hamilton recalls: As our


helicopter approached Mount Paxton from the Pacific, we first saw the


bare summit, an old logging road visible across its face like a still


fresh scar. Landslides swept downward from [logging] roads like


tears. Then we saw rebirth on the lower slope, where the second


growth already forms a thick blanket of green. When we landed there,


on the remnant of an old logging road, the new forest on either side


was almost impenetrable. Later on the summit, we noticed


re-forestation has been less successful. Slacco [Ric Slacco, Forest


Products chief forester] noted strong incremental growth on the


shorter and less numerous trees, a positive sign. The summit will


recover, he forecast. Haddock said he saw signs that much of the thin


soil had washed downhill. (Hamilton, G. 1997, October 14)


Haddock states that While it is true trees are returning, it


will be centuries before a forest as biologically rich as the old one


returns on Mount Paxton (Hamilton, G. 1997, October 14). Despite


the new growth, the mountain still stands as a legacy of everything


wrong with the way BC s forests were logged as recently as a decade


ago. It also offers a graphic warning of the hazards of logging on


steep coastal slopes where as much as seven meters of rain a year can


wreak havoc on the terrain. (Hamilton, G. 1997, October 14). For


supposed mistakes, like Mount Paxton, to never re-occur, clear-cut


logging must end.


Clear-cutting in BC harms environmental features. Because of


total logging, all the trees have been harvested, thus resulting in


land slides. The roots of the giant tree s rot and cause instability


in the soil. This rotting of the roots can cause slides as big as


three hectares that can cause devastation to nearby villages, pollute


rivers, and clear all the soil off steeper parts of mountains making


it impossible for trees to grow. A great contributor to this vast


number of mudslides, are logging roads. The tire ruts from logging


trucks in these roads get so deep that they can become the main


waterway replacing the ditches at the side of the road, thus resulting


in more erosion. Faced with a shortage of logging approvals,


companies are building roads and logging on them within a matter of


months, before the roads have a chance to stabilize. (Hamilton, G.


1997, October 16). These premature roads, referred to as green


roads , often cannot withstand heavy equipment rumbling over them


without turning into a sea of mud, which ultimately makes its way to


streams.

If salmon happen to be nearby, the silt can smother spawning


beds. Chilliwack Forest District manager, Jerry Kennah, had this to


say on the issue of green roads: When you are forced to be logging on


a road that s been built within the last six to eight months, you can


get this type of activity [muddy roads]. If we had more time, had the


plans in place, had everything approved and have the roads built 18


months in advance, you wouldn t get this. But unfortunately, in some


situations, companies are waiting for the next permit to come out or


else their fallers are through next week. They go home unless we get


something out of the office for them. (Hamilton, G. 1997, October


16).


Jack Munro, chair of the pro-industry Forest Alliance of BC


voiced It shouldn t be happening [using green roads]. The roads need


at least two years to settle (Hamilton, G. 1997, October 16). If


contractors know they are building a road that will be in use very


soon after construction, they can take steps to ensure sediments don t


float to the surface and wash into streams. Forest Products chief


forester, Ric Slacco expresses his feelings about a road building


technique called side-casting: This is wrong. It shouldn t have


happened, and it is not something we would condone as an acceptable


practice . Side-casting is a practice where excavated material is


simply cast over the side of the mountain, where its weight can


greatly lead to slope failure. Streams, no longer regulated by the


forest cover, grow in power, washing out everything but the largest


rocks from their beds. Side slopes cave in, adding to the damage.


(Hamilton, G. 1997, October 14). For these environmental features to


be preserved, clear-cut logging must end.


The environmental features that are ruined are also the homes


of the birds, animals, and insects that live in the forests.


Clear-cutting must cease to protect animals in BC. In the Nahmint


Valley, 20kms west of Port Alberny, many species of insects and


animals lose their food and homes. Clear-cutting has caused forests


to become so shrunken that creatures that before were thriving, are


now being nominated for the endangered species list. Heavy logging


[and hunting] have eliminated two of six elk subspecies; others have


been stressed almost to extinction. Only a fraction of virgin forests


on public lands in the United States and Canada is wholly protected.


A view that timber cutting favors such animals by increasing shrubs


and foliage along forest edges has drawn increasing challenges from


researchers. Recent studies indicate that some species, such as the


Roosevelt elk and Black-tailed deer, need the tempering microclimate


of old growth to get through summers heat and winters cold. (Findley,


R. 1990, pg.108).


An endangered bird of prey, the goshawk, was found recently to


have been inhabiting an area in the Nahmint Valley, and may become


extinct if the area continues to be cleared. According to Smith It s


the classic example of science versus politics. We have science that


tells us we have to do certain things to protect wildlife and then we


have politics that says it must not impact the rate of cut because the


forest industry is generating revenue for the government . (Hamilton,


G. 1997, October 15). Water contaminated from the mud slides


endangers the lives of salmon, and steelhead trout. Furthermore, it


is unhealthy for the elk, bears, and other animals who drink at these


streams. For these animal s food to be preserved, and their homes be


protected, clear-cut logging must end.


Clear-cut logging in British Columbia must be abolished.


Forests must be allowed time to regenerate. All in all man must


assist by planting new trees where old growth is cut. People must use


more caution in exercising their destructive logging practices, which


in turn are most harmful to the environment. Loggers must find an


alternate tree harvesting method to clear-cutting. Though it may take


longer and be a little more expensive, man must devise a method that


won t completely destroy an area of land which, to many animals, is


home. Human beings must allow animals to have plenty of available


food, and an easy home to find. All animals will soon become


endangered or be driven to extinction if not given space to thrive.


Today in BC, 190,000 hectares of forest are clear-cut every year. A


result of 10,000 years of post-glacial activity, is being clear-cut.


Unless people take action now, half of all the unprotected intact


rainforest valleys will have roads built into them or be clear-cut.

Сохранить в соц. сетях:
Обсуждение:
comments powered by Disqus

Название реферата: ClearCutting Of Forests Essay Research Paper ClearCutting

Слов:1668
Символов:11009
Размер:21.50 Кб.