If its done correctly, timber harvesting can improve forest beauty and productivity. Clearcutting allows for the regeneration of tree species that cannot grow under the shade of other trees, such as oak, ash, yellow poplar and walnut. The process can also add variety, sunlight, views and strands of tall straight trees to the forest landscape. Clearings from timber harvesting make the forest a better habitat for wildlife. In fact, many animals thrive in clearings because full sunlight produces nutritious food near the ground and lush growth provides cover for small animals.
Clean water is another forest product.
An average of 50 inches of rain falls on Tennessee's 13 million acres of forest. This gives Tennessee plenty of clean, fresh water, a commodity which is scarce in many parts of the nation. Most foresters and wildlife biologists recognize clearcutting as a practice that works for both timber and wildlife. It is unfortunate that such a beneficial practice has received so much negative criticism, because Tennessee's forests have an amazing abitlity to regenerate naturally under such a system. A renewed understanding of the need for clearcutting by forest landowners and the public can result in better timber and more wildlife for everyone.