At least from an ecological perspective they are… ‘Comment from Forest Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia Lands and Forestry invited.
![](http://nsforestnotes.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Img1-1024x768.jpg)
Log pile view from intact forest. Note moss, seedling, shrub and herb ground cover. Below-ground there would be a mycorrhizal (fungal) network connecting the various plants.
![](http://nsforestnotes.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Img15-1024x768.jpeg)
Will the smaller logs be burnt? Will the site be limed afterwards to compensate for loss of a critical nutrient (calcium)?
![](http://nsforestnotes.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/img7-1024x768.jpg)
This huge machine can grab a tree and cut it with its chain saw in seconds, apparently with little care for the ground vegetation and mycorrhizal networks around it
![](http://nsforestnotes.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/img8-1024x768.jpg)
Will forest regrow here? Is it Deforestation? If it regrows, will the regrowth be slower and capture less carbon than over the previous rotation?
![](http://nsforestnotes.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/img9-1024x768.jpg)
At one time, and when we had far less scientific understand of forests, most logging was conducted when the ground is frozen; not today. Why? How can we call this “sustainable”?
![](http://nsforestnotes.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/img13-1024x768.jpg)
Big logs are 3.5 hand spans across – 40+ cm. Will this forest see another 80 or so years before it is harvested so the big trees are replaces, or be harvested on a shorter rotation with 10-12″ logs the max?
The sad part: one can see a lot of this on the Nova Scotia landscape, and a lot worse, even on Crown lands.
Can’t we do better than this in 2021? ‘Comment from Forest Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia Lands and Forestry invited & welcomed.
“The hand falling, horse logging, and river drives left the forests capable of vibrant, renewed life. Clearly much had changed from what I knew [as a child growing up] to what my industry and I were doing now.” – Suzanne Simmard in Finding the Mother Tree