These are three interesting photos from Google Earth. I was browsing the mountainous areas of Washington State looking for places to try out the Google Earth 3D terrain views when I came across the first (shown above). It’s a shot of Snoqualmie Pass, where I’ve hiked many many times. South of the pass, timber companies have been permitted to clear cut sections of the forest in a checkerboard fashion. The thinking is that selective clearcutting may be less damaging than completely clearing the land.
This photo shows the impact of clear cutting on Vancouver Island in BC. Notice the large areas of deforestation. As you drive through the roads in these areas, the earth has literally been scalped of trees. A fresh clear cut is not much more than soil, and low growing vegetation. It looks like a moonscape.
This photo shows Tofino and Clayquot Sound, site of some of the most pitched anti-logging battles of the 1990’s. Activists set out to save the old growth forest, and were successful. This is one of the few places left in North America where you can still walk through these forests.
