Page 29 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Fourth Quarter 2023

1|Forestry is all about cutting down trees.
This is one I’m sure we’ve all heard,
and from what I can gather, it’s just something that the industry has to work with. Forestry does include cutting down trees, but due to a lack of education, most people automatically assume that cutting a tree down is the worst possible thing you can do. However, once you get a sense of what forest management can look like and understand all the things that can go into a management plan, you realize that cutting some trees is just as important as leaving others to grow.
One of my favorite things I’ve
gotten to do with the NCFA was attend the Sustainable Forestry Teachers Experience (SFTE) programs throughout the state. We went to a game-lands preserve in the Piedmont that was undergoing management to rejuvenate the longleaf pine ecosystem. As the wildlife biologist was talking and we were driving through the area, you
could see examples of how the forest thrived in areas where management was active and how it wasn’t flourishing in areas that hadn’t been touched in a while. You really can tell a difference when you see all of it in action, and it’s hard not to have an appreciation for the folks who are working to maintain healthy forests.
2|Forestry is destroying trees.
Another point I can make along these
lines is one I believe is common sense:
The forestry industry wouldn’t exist without trees, so why would they cut down all the trees with no plan to regenerate the resource? We talk about renewable and nonrenewable resources in K-12 classes and one of those resources that should be described as renewable is trees. This would be a great place to slip in an introduction
to sustainable forestry and how the industry runs. Yes, we can recognize that at the turn of the 20th century, forestry didn’t exist as a science and this caused a lot of
issues. But thanks to the giants of the forestry industry (thank you, Dr. Carl A. Schenck), forest management and ecology are better understood now and used to inform the forestry industry on how to best conduct business.
3|Forestry is a dirty industry.
I think I can identify the cause of this one: clear-cutting. Every time you pass a clear- cutting job, let me be honest here, it doesn’t look very good. And while clear-cutting isn’t generally a common industry logging practice unless you need a complete refresh on your tract, the common passerby isn’t going to know that or even think to look it up. They’ll look at the next log truck that passes them and say something along the lines of, “These loggers are destroying the forests.” Once again, there’s a great chance for education here.
Clear cuts may not be the most aesthetically pleasing, but they provide an abundance of early succession habitat for wildlife while a new stand is being established.
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