Practical solutions for people + planet

Clearcutting and erosion

We all know how clearcutting causes erosion and we've all seen the pictures. But this, from the Seattle Times, is pretty much the poster pic for it. This is a Weyerhaeuser site in southeastern Washington. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/zoom/syndication/2004076441.html

4 Comments

Comment by Chantal on January 17, 2008 at 11:29am: Now that's a provocative photo.

Sniffing around a bit, I found some graphical resources on this subject for other parts of North America as well:

Stop Clearcutting California

Clearcutting in Canada: The War of the Woods

Comment by Kim Ridley on January 18, 2008 at 11:02am: A shocking image, and testimony to the power of photos.

Comment by John Coate on January 18, 2008 at 11:17am: The story suggests that the pics were taken on a flyby with the heads of the company. What could have been going through their minds when they saw that? "gee too bad - let's be a little more careful next time."

Comment by teogr on January 22, 2008 at 11:41am: Using Google Earth

While fly-by photos were the standard way of shedding light on the issue of large scale clearcutting and strip-mining, new technology, pioneered by the folks at Google Earth Outreach, is beginning to shift the scope of this challenge, providing wider and interactive access to increase awareness and understanding to the devastation that irresponsible logging and mining operations inflict on natural systems and communities.

Google Earth Outreach was at the Bioneers Conference last year, training interested organizers how to begin to use Google Earth for their organizations and issues.