Naio wrote:
Tom/Barb wrote:
Little known fact: When clear cutting is done a certain amount of slash must be left on the ground to protect from erosion. And the law requires the area be replanted with in 4 years.
Those laws were pushed through by environmentalists relatively recently. Most of the west was clearcut with no requirement for replanting, and slash was burned.
Now that most of the western forests have been clearcut multiple times, it is very difficult to find any soil in which to replant the trees. I worked in reforestation and have much experience with this. There's a lot of bare exposed rock that used to be forest..
During the 1800's there were no laws on timber cutting, and the forest were clear cut and left to replant by Mother Nature. It wasn't until after WWII that any conservation ideas were implemented.
Your idea that all soil is gone can simply be disproved by observing how well the replanted areas do.
