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Photo by P.J. Perea/NWTF |
The clear-cut truth
Jack McCauley doesn’t like clear cuts. I know. I used to hunt with him high in the hills that line the West Virginia–Virginia border.
Many times I used to listen to him talk about wildlife habitat lost to chain saws and logging trucks. Clear cuts were never put in a good light, and I heard all the reasons. Of course, I didn’t have many reasons of my own to disagree, that is, until I spent some time researching the effects that clear cuts have on wildlife and habitat.
Clear cuts can be one of the most effective ways to draw wildlife to your land, while at the same time enhancing habitat. Here are the clear-cut truths most people never hear.
Learn the Cycle
One of the most vocal cries from the environmental community is to keep our forests untouched. They believe that nature is destroyed with the harvest of timber. Folks in the West have learned first hand the consequences of hands-off management — wildfires.
Severe wildfires have ripped through forests that are void of clearing, cutting and cleaning, leading to millions of destroyed acres, homes and communities.
With active management, many of these wildfires may have been prevented. But not everyone understands that forests grow in cycles. Destruction — like wildfires, hurricanes or other severe weather — are parts of that cycle. Without active forest management these catastrophes will happen, quality timber will be lost and wildlife and people will suffer.
“Natural disasters can wipe out parts of the forest and leave others untouched. This actually provides different stages of growth, which is exactly what wildlife needs to flourish,” said James Earl Kennamer, Ph.D, NWTF chief conservation officer. “Clear cuts, however, are more beneficial. Instead of waiting for nature to destroy tracts of timber, we are creating new areas of growth that benefit both landowners and wildlife.”
Continued Management
Clear cuts are beneficial to many species of wild birds including wild turkeys, neo-tropical migratory birds and quail.
Quail populations were strongest in the United States in the early 1900s, the time in American history when the most timber was harvested, creating thousands of acres of quail habitat.
According to the USDA Forest Service Facts and Historical Trends, an average of 13 square miles of forest was cleared every day for 50 years during the last half of the 19th century. This created thousands of acres of new growth, which helped quail populations flourish.
“Some bird species need new vegetation in young forests to survive. To have a healthy bird population, you need really good insect habitat,” said Darren Miller, Ph.D., southern wildlife project manager for Weyerhaeuser. “Insects and birds eat leafy plants. Woodcock, quail, the yellow-breasted chat and the prairie warbler eat insects. New growth provides all of these essentials.”
Almost immediately after the trees are harvested, forbs or broadleaved flowering plants and grasses sprout, and continue to grow until trees grow tall enough to shade them from the sun.
“If clear cuts are properly managed they can produce good quail habitat for about six years before tree growth starts closing in,” said Dr. Bill Palmer, game bird program director for Tall Timbers Research Station. “As soon as trees begin to block out the sunlight, the new growth on the ground will die, as will the quail habitat.”— Brian Dowler