Machine Cuts Logs to Length After Clear-Cut

Terrace Bay, Ontario. Kenogami forest

Logging is subsidized by the Canadian government for “job creation,” though in fact the process is so machine intensive that very few jobs are created. The cutting of an old growth forest to make tissues and toilet paper is emblematic of our disposable economy. For the profit of a few, we destroy something of immense value and benefit for the many.

The Kenogami National Forest in Canada, source of the wood for this mill, is home for a multitude of species from wolves and bears to the moss on the forest floor. It is an immensely diverse and complex ecosystem that gives us clean air and water, and it will be replaced by a monoculture of factory farmed trees and a polluted river.

Much of the carbon released in the process of deforestation comes from the disturbance of the soil, which has a complex biology that has evolved over centuries. The damage done is essentially irreparable, like that done to the visible flora and fauna.