Clear Cutting and Ethical Environmental Issues

The following sample essay on There was no selective logging, Just cut everything down and send it to the saw mills. As a result of this careless practice erosion was created and plants were no longer able to grow in the soil. Mud washed down Into fresh water streams that was used for washing, drinking, and cooking and contaminated the water from the excess silt deposits that are left behind. Often newly planted trees are not allowed to mature before they are harvested.

Some companies only wait twenty years before clear cutting the same area as before. This creates a problem as the trees are not given the chance to grow. It is common sense that if these companies would wait another couple decades they loud get a bigger harvest from the trees and they would not have to cut as many trees down. Whenever logging companies choose to use the same types of trees to replace what they have cut down they run the risk of the entire new forest becoming riddled with disease and insects that thrive off of the types of trees that have been planted.

When the diseases start to appear it does not take long before all of the newly planted trees become sick and die. Now the land becomes unusable to the logging companies so they Just abandon It. Not all countries replant what they cut, ND Costa Rica Is a Prime example of this. In Costa Rica the laws of clear cutting are very lenient and logging companies take advantage of this fact.

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“In Costa Rica, until only about 15 years ago, you could secure free land by Improving it. The easiest way to improve the land was to chop down the forest. The forest was considered wasted or unused land. In fact, Costa Rica had to pass laws to prevent squatters from having the right to take over land that was being allocated for reforestation, because it seemed to them to be neglected. ” Logging companies in Costa Rica re known for clearing a large area in order to get to a small amount of trees that are profitable, while the unprofitable trees are left there to rot. American logging companies are not innocent either. There has been some question to their ethics when it comes to protecting endangered species. “In 1986, a worried environmentalist group petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the owl as an “endangered species,” a move that would bar the timber Industry from clearing these lands. In June 1990, after years of heated negotiation and litigation between he government, environmentalists, and the timber industry, the northern spotted owl was clearer a attendee species. Unaware tens prolongs, toddler companies are required to leave at least 40% of the old-growth forests intact within a 1. 3 mile radius of any spotted owl nest or activity site, a provision that is vehemently opposed by the timber industry.

Industry representatives claim that the measure will leave thousands of Northwest loggers and mill workers Jobless, and insist that such protectionist policies thoughtlessly fail to take into account the dire economic consequences of preservation. Environmentalists, on the other hand, argue that society has a fundamental obligation to preserve this rare species and the wilderness it inhabits. However with all of the negative press that the logging industry receives, there are some positive aspects to clear cutting. Logging jobs pay very well and can spring new life into an area that has suffered economically. When a logging operation sets up in a town it might not always bring new Jobs to the area, but it does bring in new money for the area. The loggers need a place to stay at restaurant and stores to get food from, and basic necessities are deed as well. Unfortunately some places of business might become unethical when a logging company comes to their town. They might raise prices in order to make a larger profit from the loggers, the town may relax some of the laws to suit the loggers, and an example of this would be a “dry’ town now sells alcohol to suit the loggers. Another positive aspect of clear cutting is called forest management. By allowing logging companies to clear cut certain areas of forest, new growth from seedlings that have struggled to grow but could not now can because the forest nappy is now opened and light is able to shine down to the forest floor.

This can allow certain species of trees and shrubs that were heading for extinction to thrive as they now can get the sunlight and water that they so desperately needed, but were denied due to the forest heavy canopy. The future of clear cutting seems to be bleak. While clear cutting is the cheapest and fastest way to cut timber it appears to be going out with forest management replacing it. It appears that the practice of clear cutting does more harm than it does good. There is some good news for the true though, and that comes in the form of domesticating trees. Just like corn has been domesticated to meet certain need, so will trees. According to Jennifer Actuator, scientists are working on gene manipulation to grow trees that can grow faster and bigger for specific purposes such as making furniture or plywood, and be able to grow trees much like a crop is grown for more efficient use of limited land space. While there are clear disadvantages to clear cutting, it has come a long way since we first started this practice; it still clearly needs work.