Shelterwood Logging: Better Than Clear Cut Logging

I am going to argue why shelter-wood logging is better than clear cut logging. There are 3 main reasons why shelter-wood is better than clear-cut. One is because clear-cut doesn’t leave seeds for forest regeneration, and shelter-wood does. Two is because clear-cut leaves nothing to keep the soil together, shelter-wood leaves plants and trees behind to hold together the soil and prevent erosion. Third is because shelter-wood leaves places for animals to live and keep their hiding places. Clear-cut leaves a big void and animals have to get used to different places which could be hard on the animals.

The first reason is the regeneration problem. Clear-cut logging leaves only stumps that usually die off preventing any regeneration. It takes many years for a stump to produce strong enough stems to live during the harsh winters or for them to amount to anything. Shelter-wood logging leaves batches of trees in many different spots so they are able to seed the ground around them. Letting the trees naturally seed rather than doing it ourselves is better for the environment. Trees grow faster when planted in the ground than when growing off of stumps.

The second reason is because clear-cut logging leaves nothing to hold the earth together. Erosion is most likely to happen and the soil will have no nutrients left in it to help it regenerate. When people clear-cut, they take all the left over stumps and branches and put it in a pile to burn. With all the top soil taken off the seeds are piled up and it will take a while for grass to grow. With all this weak soil the slightest wind will rip apart the top layer again and even the slightest rainfall will erode the land, making a deep mud river in it. Too muddy for trees to grow, the land is useless.

The third and last reason is animal life. When we clear-cut we leave nothing left for animals to live in. They must migrate to a new bush and get used to it. If there was a watering hole in the middle of the forest, all the land eroded and filled it with mud; the animals may not be able to survive out in the open. If there is no grass, the animals can’t even find anything to eat for a while. Altering the environment could cause disturbance to animal kingdom which clearly is a hint that we should stop clear-cut logging.