The Problems

Why are we cutting down our trees at such a fast rate?
    From "Journey Through the Northern Rainforest"
  1. The timber business is profitable.
  2. There are mistakes. Loggers may accidentally take down trees that should not be cut when they go through with their equipment.
  3. There is a high demand for fuel caused by impoverished living conditions in some countries.
  4. There is a high demand for building materials.
  5. There is a need in some areas to clear space for new cities (due to increased population).
  6. Trees are cut down to make access for mining and oil drilling equipment.
  7. Trees are cut down to provide grazing fields for cattle. In the rainforests, this is particularly wasteful and tragic. The soil of a rainforest only contains nutrients in the top two inches. Within a couple of years, the cattle eat up the vegetation and then move on leaving a desert.
          The over-cutting of trees creates environmental problems on every level. Not only is the stability of the earth’s climate affected, but even the smallest organisms experience life-threatening changes. The issue of deforestation also pits people against each other. While some are fighting to save the trees, others are fighting to save their jobs.

          Once a forest ecosystem is destroyed, it can’t be replaced—at least not quickly. For example, in an old-growth forest, how do you replace trees that are two to three hundred years old or even worse, one to two thousand years old? Regeneration could take hundreds of years.

          One solution to this problem is to replant forests in the form of tree farms. This, however, is not adequate. First of all, tree farms lack the important stages of a natural forest in their growth and development. Without them, certain species of plants and animals that would thrive in this habitat are not present. The fact that tree farms are all comprised of the same tree species further discourages biodiversity. In a natural forest, there are many different types of trees and other plants. This is extremely important for several reasons. According to the National Park Service (on biological diversity), “The values of this diversity in parks are legion: the value of nature for its own sake, a source of wonder and enjoyment; the value of learning about the workings of nature in places largely free of human influence, for comparison with landscapes dominated by humans; the survival value of multitudes of wild species that flourish as natural systems helping regulate climate, air quality, and cycles of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, mineral elements, and water—all fundamental to life on Earth. There is economic value in these same plants and animals. They are potential sources of food, medicine, and industrial products. Parks protect the species and their communities that underlie these values—serving if necessary as reservoirs of seed stock for restoring species lost elsewhere”.

Forest in the Olympic Penninsula
From "Wild Woodlands:
The Old Growth Forests of America"
by Bill Thomas
          In the old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest, a small bird sparked a big controversy between environmentalists and loggers. Scientists discovered that the survival of the Northern Spotted owl (weight: less than two pounds; height: 17 inches) was threatened. This species builds nests in dead trees and hunts small mammals. The mammals, in turn, eat the fruit from certain types of fungi. A drop in the number of Northern Spotted owls may also signify a drop in mammal population. This, unfortunately means that the spores from the fungi are not being spread around to the young trees that need them for growth and survival. It is for this reason that the US Forest Service selected the Northern Spotted owl as an indicator of the health of the whole forest. The owl was added to the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s list of threatened species. This prompted protest by loggers because the owl depends on huge areas of forest for its survival and thus, it all had to be protected from cutting.

          It is obvious (from the above example) that over-cutting results in habitat loss and possibly extinction for many species. Those animals able to leave an area of deforestation must find new homes and compete with other organisms already living there for food and shelter. This results in a decrease of babies being born and further population decline.

Runoff can clearly be seen in this photo of a rainforest battling soil erosion.
          Trees are very important in preventing the erosion of landscapes. They slow down runoff by holding or absorbing water and they reduce damage caused by flooding. Without trees, mudslides can occur. This is a big problem because the soil’s nutrients get washed away. Even worse, pesticides, fertilizers, and silt run down into streams or the ocean. Silt causes fish to have difficulty seeing and more importantly, breathing. The pesticides and fertilizers pollute the water.

          Trees often maintain the stable conditions of an ecosystem that its inhabitants depend upon for survival. For example, their shade helps keep streams cool. This is very important for young salmon who cannot withstand warm temperatures in the first year of life. Without trees, many would die. Another organism dependent on the presence of larger trees is the Pacific Yew. The bark of the Pacific Yew contains taxol—a substance with cancer-fighting properties. If old-growth cutting exposes the Pacific Yew to too much heat and light, it will die.

          The earth’s stable climate is due largely to the respiration of trees. Cutting down too many trees takes away much of the earth’s ability to produce oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide. An excess of carbon dioxide greatly contributes to the Greenhouse effect.

Current logging practices are also problems for several reasons:
  1. One method of clearing—slash and burn—sends vast amounts of carbon into the air when the trees are ignited. This action is responsible for 10-30% of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. Carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere increases the Greenhouse effect, acid rain, ozone damage, and air pollution. In turn, the air pollution (caused by the burning of trees) kills other trees not actively being destroyed. Pine trees are especially susceptible.
    2. From "Journey Through the Northern Rainforest"
  2. Poorly planned cutting and further inefficient processing may produce a great deal of waste.
  3. Loggers take the best trees first and don’t give forests a chance to grow back to their original level. Usually more is cut down than the forests are capable of sustaining. Also, when the new seedlings of fast-growing evergreens are planted in logged-over land, chemicals are added to prevent indigenous wild species from growing. Letting these other species grow would help restore biodiversity to the area.
  4. Clear-cutting is a method of taking down ALL the trees in a given area. According to Jerry Franklin (University of Washington, post-consultant to the US Forest Service), “There should never be a clear-cut. Some old trees, snags, and logs should remain for continuity of dependent communities. If you want life to survive, you have to build a bridge.” Clear-cutting also divides areas into sections with barren areas in between. Fragmentation traps animals (who may need larger habitats to survive) in one place. This reduces the available gene pool of these species and further discourages biodiversity.
  5. Making roads for logging not only takes down extra trees, but they enable people to have greater access to the forest’s interior. This can promote additional problems such as large-scale hunting (possibly of endangered animals) and illegal bushmeat trading.


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