Clear-cutting is a logging method is which whole stands of trees are non-selectively harvested over a relatively large area. The goals of the technique are to maximize economic efficiency in harvesting or create conditions to re-establish stands of trees species that require sunlight for growth, or both. As an economic efficiency measure, it allows loggers to access and remove all of the valuable older trees without having to work around protected trees and younger trees of lesser value. As an ecological management tool, it allows large contiguous areas to be opened to sunlight and regrowth.

Clear-cutting has been controversial since World War II, when it became the dominant logging method in U.S. national forests; some foresters see it as a beneficial and legitimate logging method, while ...