OUTDOOR CORNER: A CLEARCUT REASON FOR CLEARCUTTING

What is clearcutting in Missouri?

Most people have an image of clearcutting in their mind that is, for the most part, unpleasant. We so often confuse clearcutting, as used by foresters to regenerate forests, with other forms of land treatment.

So, what isn't clearcutting?

First of all, land conversion is not clearcutting. When we see large tracts of land stripped of trees to make room for pasture, housing developments, or other land use, we do not see a clearcut.

A land conversion is a change from one land use to another, such as from forest to pasture. A clearcut, on the other hand, is a method used by foresters to regenerate stands of trees with a uniform age and size. When clearcutting is applied to forest land, the future use of the land is still forest. The new stand is simply smaller and younger than the previous one.

What about hundreds of acres of forest totally denuded of trees? Perhaps in other parts of the country, but not in Missouri. Here, we rarely see a large clearcut. Clearcuts range from three to 10 acres on Department of Conservation land.

What about the detrimental effects of clearcutting on wildlife habitat? Years of research in Missouri has clearly shown that clearcutting benefits a long list of wildlife, from five-line skunks to worm eating warblers and ruffed grouse to white-tailed deer.

Another misunderstanding about clearcutting is its effect on erosion. Clearcutting does not cause erosion, at least not in Missouri. A Missouri clearcut is so rapidly revegetated by herbaceous plants, grasses and trees that erosion is seldom a problem. In practically all cases in Missouri where forest harvesting leads to accelerated erosion rates, the real cause can be traced to improper road building, maintenance, skidding or hauling practices.

So, just what is clearcutting? Clearcutting is a forest management practice which is used to regenerate stands of trees with a uniform age and size. Some species of trees regenerate and develop more favorably in stands with this structure. Clearcuts usually cover three to 10 acres. Clearcuts in Missouri are rapidly revegetated with grassy, herbaceous and woody plants.

Clearcuts are beneficial to a wide range of wildlife species. Clearcutting simulates natural disturbances in a forest, such as fire and wind, which regenerated stands of even-aged trees in the past. Clearcutting is not the forester's only management too, but one of many used to regenerate stands under specific conditions.

One of the themes for the Missouri Department of Conservation the past several years has been `Forests for the Future.' Clearcutting has been used for years in Missouri with excellent results. Foresters are using clearcutting, along with the many other forest treatments, to insure Missouri's forests of the future.

Tony Jaco is a resource forester with the Missouri Department of Conservation.