Lesson 7 Introduction
Completion requirements
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As we study and do more scientific research, we learn more about how the forests work.
Does the word lumberjack mean anything to you? In pioneer times, being a lumberjack was a very important job. Forests were seen as an obstacle that needed to be cleared away so land could be farmed and settled.
There was high demand for pulp, charcoal, firewood and lumber for things such as fences, windmills, boardwalks, paving blocks, railway ties, farm implements, pails, tubs, building material, furniture, and much more.
Video
Watch this video: Lumberjack competition.
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A sawmill or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Before the invention of the sawmill, boards were split by hand, But when people learned how to make machines, water powered sawmills became steam powered sawmills, and have now become electricity powered and computerized mills. As mill capacity has increased, so has the forest harvesting capacity of Canadians. A timber shortage in Canada once seemed impossible, but in the 1940s people began to fear a timber famine because so many trees were being harvested.
The removal of forests to convert the land for other uses, such as for raising cattle, building homes, or making way for highways is deforestation.
Leaf litter, stumps, and twigs that remain on the forest floor after logging usually protect the soil from erosion. Land developed to pasture also protects the soil or ground cover. But, land used for raising crops, especially with slopes greater than 5 per cent is likely to experience erosion.
The removal of forests to convert the land for other uses, such as for raising cattle, building homes, or making way for highways is deforestation.
Leaf litter, stumps, and twigs that remain on the forest floor after logging usually protect the soil from erosion. Land developed to pasture also protects the soil or ground cover. But, land used for raising crops, especially with slopes greater than 5 per cent is likely to experience erosion.