Six Benefits of Logging Forests

Logging is an on-site process which involves the cutting, skidding, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks. A skidder or bulldozer is often used in the logging operations which pulls the trees that have already been cut and then transport them from the cutting forest to a landing. The term ‘logging’ is usually used to denote silviculture activities or forest management. It also encourages the growth and development of new species of trees and is a very important practice as it provides the sustained production of timber. Therefore, there are various benefits of logging listed below:

  1. Improves health – When logging is performed, the dead and diseased trees are harvested, thus preventing the spread of the fungi or bacteria which may damage other parts of the tree. In addition, the branches become over-crowded and weak if a tree has overgrown. If this excess growth is removed by logging, the tree can be benefited with proper air circulation and exposure to sunlight. These two components are essential for the overall growth of the trees.
  1. Minimizes competition among the trees – High densities of trees means there will be more competition for a limited amount of nutrition. Unlike us, trees are not provided their resources from others; instead they have to produce by photosynthesis. The trees that have become old and are nearing the end of their life cycle become unnecessary competition for live stems, thinning the forest distributes these resources to the most valuable stems. Crowding of trees in the forest also provides entry to pathogens and diseases. These diseases affect an entire forest by killing thousands of healthy as well as old trees. If loggers do not practice logging, various sections of forest will be compromised.
  1. Provides necessary materials – Logging is a main source of timber which is used for a number of human needs such as providing construction materials, flooring wood, furniture, fuel for industries and homes, sports goods and other kinds of commodities. Apart from these products, timber also aids in the making of skyscrapers, dentures, cars and fighter planes. It is also used as a raw material in some industries Thus we can see that timber is used in our day-to-day lives at an advance rate and it can be only be derived through the activity of logging.
  1. Safety – When a tree is old, weak or diseased, it becomes more prone to the various environmental factors such as wind and rain. Such conditions may lead to the fall of trees in the undesirable areas like the roads, sidewalks or driveways and can greatly injure and cause inconvenience to the individuals present there at that particular moment. Thus, if we allow the trees to grow without being checked, it may lead to a negative effect on the lives of the people. In addition, when trees are allowed to grow unchecked, they develop for the roofs of houses, power lines, and other buildings.
  1. Allows more ground area to flourish – Lower densities, or early successional habitat, in the forest means that there will be chances of more new growth in the forest. This is because when there is a lower density forest, more sunlight and air will be able to reach the forest floor, thus encouraging the growth of varieties of grasses, bushes, ferns and other such plants – all desirable for wildlife. Advantages of growing these plants are that they have a shorter cycle of life than the huge trees that shadow them and they also grow till their maturity, die and decompose in the ground adding nutrients to enhance the fertility of the forest floor. Therefore, less number of huge trees would encourage the growth of these small plants and add to the nutrient level of the soil.
  1. Diminishes the risk of forest fire – Since logging requires the cutting of trees, then it is likely that any fire started by a natural cause will not be able to spread rapidly. In this way, the forest can be saved from any unexpected occurrence of forest fire and the lives of various wild habitats can also be saved.

There are many advantages of logging and one should not hesitate to perform it as they are not only beneficial to the people employed in the logging industry but also to the people performing private forestry and the forest resource itself to a great extent.

Here at Future Forest Consulting, we offer timber appraisals & financial analysis of forestland as well as logging and low-impact logging services all across the Western NY region.

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