Clearcutting eliminates rich biodiverse forests and replaces them with industrial tree plantations.
After a biodiverse, ecologically complex forest is eliminated by clearcutting, timber companies replant a crop of select trees – a tree “plantation” – that does not resemble real forests or natural forest regrowth after fire or wind disturbance. A uniform tree plantation may maximize profits in a short time – but that comes at the expense of vital public trust resources.
Generally, a tree plantation consists of one or two species of conifers planted to minimize future logging costs and species protection issues. Up to 300 trees are planted per acre, and toxic herbicides and rodenticides are used to eliminate native plants or animals that could “compete” with the planted saplings. The tree plantations are densely planted then thinned later, often leaving debris on the ground. Because the trees are all one age (“even-aged”), they pose unique fire risks and lack biodiversity. Under California law the area must be planted within 5 years after the clearcut, but for years, the area is fairly barren and very hot and dry until there is adequate canopy cover. A natural forest would have more varied tree species growing at different heights. It would stay cooler and provide more protection against severe wildfires.
Scientists warn that with climate change “maintaining diverse, healthy forests with conditions favoring resilience to unpredictable but changing climates”… is the most appropriate response in California.
Unfortunately, despite the evidence of the damage to climate and habitat, neither the timber industry nor CAL FIRE are ready to stop allowing clearcutting as a logging method. More public input is needed to pressure lawmakers and regulatory agencies to act in the best interests of protecting and sustaining the health and vitality of our forests. Some key concerns about plantation forests include:
- Clearcuts and young tree plantations are often fairly barren and hot for years. This increase in temperature due to lack of shade and moisture given off by trees (transpiration) makes drought conditions and rising temperatures even worse for all species.
- Tree plantations increase the susceptibility to landscape fire events and repeatedly, are burning at high intensity. It is well documented that high levels of tree plantations throughout the Sierra Nevada, both on private and public lands, are contributing to unnatural fire hazards. Tree plantations are generally dense and even-aged with crowns of a uniform height, making it easier for fire to move from tree-to-tree. The trees in plantations are younger overall, with thinner bark that is less protective against fire than older trees. Learn more…
- Most wildlife cannot find food, shelter or nesting habitat in young tree plantations. Clearcuts often leave only a few, usually smaller trees that are supposed to serve as remaining habitat for wildlife. It’s clearly not enough to provide shelter, protected passage, nesting or food for displaced wildlife.
- Dense plantations can exacerbate bark beetle activity in both young and older tree plantations. Beetles are able to spread rapidly in even-aged same species areas – both those that were thinned and those that are dense. Home gardeners and farmers know disease is always higher in monoculture crop areas.
- Reliance on herbicides to eliminate native shrub and hardwood species in tree plantations is harming wildlife. It contributes to declining deer populations, causes decline of native plants, and reduces food for pollinators and other species, including birds and mammals.