The leaves that broke the fall of a hard rain disappear and run-off is much faster. Few clearcuts are conducted under ideal conditions. If the ground is steep or wet, extraction machinery often cuts deep ruts in the forest floor that will take generations to heal. Man-made gullies form and may lead to severe erosion. Siltation ends up clogging streams and killing aquatic life.
Foresters claim they employ voluntary best management practices.
Best management practices use standards that are woefully inadequate. Good science and other states require riparian areas to be naturally vegetated along 75 percent percent of a stream length and at least 100 feet on both sides of a stream. This is not seen in Tennessee. There is a growing pressure to convert forests from native hardwood to faster-rotation pine and to produce more trees per acre. Wayne County is now 60 percent converted.