I don't have a degree in forestry, but I think I know ugly when I see it. Even SPI owner Red Emmerson and his PR person admit that the current clearcuts in the Sierra are ugly. But they reassure us that they will replant a new forest in place of the clearcuts.
What replaces clearcuts, however, is not a forest but a tree plantation: Ground that has been cleared of all oaks, pines, cedars, and brush, ripped, and sprayed with weed killers is replanted with a single species, all growing at the same rate to be cut down at the same time (ca. 70 years) and replanted again and again and again until the land loses its fertility, at which time the land can be "developed." If that's what's known as "sustainability" in the timber industry then I despair of having a productive exchange with the owners.
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I don't have a degree in forestry, but I think I know ugly when I see it. Even SPI owner Red Emmerson and his PR person admit that the current clearcuts in the Sierra are ugly. But they reassure us that they will replant a new forest in place of the clearcuts.
What replaces clearcuts, however, is not a forest but a tree plantation: Ground that has been cleared of all oaks, pines, cedars, and brush, ripped, and sprayed with weed killers is replanted with a single species, all growing at the same rate to be cut down at the same time (ca. 70 years) and replanted again and again and again until the land loses its fertility, at which time the land can be "developed." If that's what's known as "sustainability" in the timber industry then I despair of having a productive exchange with the owners.