In the 1950's, for example, British Columbian forest operations generated 2.64 direct jobs for every 1,000 cubic metres cut. Today the figure is less than 1 direct job per 1,000 meters cut. New and more efficient technologies have also fuelled the pressure to over-cut and are directly responsible for the type of environmental damage that has drawn the attention of environmentalists around the world. What is often missed, however, is the effect of these capital intensive, ecologically catastrophic methods on employment. Forest companies use technological change to make less people cut more trees faster.
Production goes up, while jobs are disappearing throughout the pulp and wood industries.
The single biggest change in logging practices in Canada over the last few decades has been the switch to nearly universal clear-cut logging. A clear-cut is any type of logging that removes all the trees from the site. Leaving trees standing on a site helps wildlife re-establish in the area. Toxic herbicides to kill deciduous growth are often sprayed both before and after planting. Insecticides are more likely to be used in a forest of all even-aged trees of the same species.