General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: state by state speak your mind about oregon [View all]lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)The erosion was horrible (it was on a slope) the damage to the understory was complete and the leave trees were significantly harmed.
... but it looked pretty good from the road.
Better to log an area, replant it immediately, thin it in 15 years then decommission the road. Check on it 35 years after that.
In our area, immature trees are cut for money and public relations reasons. The biggest logs I see on trucks are 35 years old or so. Consequently, in a chicken and the egg quandary, there are no sawmills which can handle big logs. Forests outside riparian management zones never mature to become the kind of "majestic old growth" (i.e. "older than me" forests that passers-by so object to seeing harvested.
FWIW, the worst logging practices you'll ever see are on the Quinault Indian Nation. Take a drive up to Queets some day (you'll have to detour a bit off the highway) and you'll see what I mean.