Clearcutting

 With family here this last week took a break from writing.  This story is about clear cutting on National Forests during my career with the Forest Service.

Forest roads constructed to access these clear-cuts is a separate story.  Then comes the economics of it all, the speculative bidding in the 1980's, followed by the government buyout of timber sales, the bottom dropping out of the lumber market, the rise of the chip market, the export market and much more.   

Its hot this afternoon--104

Comments always welcome

HISTORY of CLEARCUTTING

 

The practice of clearcutting or the text book name of regeneration cut has been around for a long time.   Back in the glory days of logging it was all clearcutting and high grading of logs.   Logs showing any defect or undesirable species were left in the woods.   Logging fires were common with the use of steam donkeys and very little regards for fire prevention during the dry season.   Most reforestation was from natural regeneration.     

Over the last 70 years there have been different versions of clearcutting.    This included the leaving of shelter wood and seed trees, which all ended up being clear-cut over time.  After WWII, clearcutting increased on National Forests of the Pacific Northwest.   It involved cutting native forests or what is called old growth today.   The larger coniferous trees, with average diameter of 40 to 50 inches were cut leaving smaller trees under 12 inches in diameter standing and all hardwood trees.   Many of the standing trees were damaged during the falling of the larger trees and most were completely destroyed during skidding or yarding operations.   After logging was completed most units were covered with cull logs, slash two to six deep and an occasional standing tree that survived the carnage.    To add insult to injury, any remaining trees between 12 to 4 inches in diameter that might hinder the planting of new trees were required to be cut and left.  This was called “whip falling.”

Slash burning was the common method to treat the slash, usually after the fall rains arrived.    On some units the top soil was destroyed from the extreme heat due to the large amount of fuel and intensity of the burn.    In the 1970’s the Forest Service required the removal of all unutilized material over 10 inches in diameter and 10 feet in length to lessen the damage to soils from slash burns.    Originally two logging operations took place, the first to remove the merchantable material and the second to remove the unmerchantable stuff, which was decked or piled on the landing for a separate sale to commercial wood cutters or made available to the public for firewood by permit.   These decks consisted of large coniferous cull logs and hardwoods, mostly madrone and tan oaks.    Better utilization of all wood fiber improved with the timber industry.   They removed coniferous cull logs that could be peeled and used for filler material in plywood and other cull logs were chipped for pulp and paper production.   Tan oak was also utilized for pulp, and madrone, along with wood waste was used as hog fuel used to operate cogeneration plants that most mills have to generate steam and electrical power.   

By the 1980’s soil scientists with the Forest Service were finding that too much removal of woody debris on clear-cut units was not beneficial to the soil over the long-term.   They wrote up contractual requirements for a certain amount of woody debris be left per acre on clear-cut units based on so much cubic feet.    This material consisted of cull logs and where not a safety concern standing snags were left standing.   By the late 1980’s 8 to 12 wildlife trees per acre were required to be left scattered over the clear-cut units.  These trees could be snags, cull trees or green trees and had to be at least a certain size such as 30 inches in diameter and 60 feet in height.   During winter storms some of the wildlife trees were blown down to add to the woody debris.     

Streams and riparian areas were protected according to their classifications.   Class 1 streams, mostly domestic water supplies received full protection with 100 to 200 foot buffers.  Class 2 streams were fish bearing streams requiring 100 foot buffers.  Class 3 streams contributed to fish bearing streams and had 50 foot buffers.  Class 4 streams were seasonal streams with no buffers.  Some of these buffers varied in width based on slope and topography.   On steep clear-cut units some of these buffers were destroyed from logs rolling downhill.   Some units were so steep that directional falling was required by jacking or lining trees uphill.  This was expensive doubling the failing costs from $12 per thousand board feet (MBF) to $25/MBF.  Not sure if these stream classifications are still in use today. 

Today clearcutting is not practiced on National Forests.   With many second growth plantations there are thinning sales where the average log is 12 inches in diameter and very few trees over 20 inches are cut.    Clearcutting on industrial forests is widespread, even on second growth plantations where trees range between 12 to 20 inches in diameter after 40 years of growth, depending on the site conditions.    Many small log mills cannot handle logs greater than 20 inches.

Clearcutting results in even-age forests of a monoculture of mostly Douglas-fir better known as tree farms.    Logging costs are lower and production is higher than with select logging or thinning where costs can double with less production of loads per day.    The demand for forest products is only going to increase, especially when the average American uses 700 pounds of paper products per year.