Editing Clearcutting (section)

==Clearcutting regeneration, harvesting or system==
[[File:Bad Lands, Unaka National Forest - NARA - 280115.jpg|thumb|Clearcut logging in the [[Blue Ridge Mountains]] (Tennessee) in 1936]]
[[File:Clearcutting in Southern Finland.jpg|thumb|Clearcutting in Southern Finland]]
[[File:Clearcutting-Oregon.jpg|thumb|Clearcutting near [[Eugene, Oregon]]]]

Clearcutting can be differentiated into
* ''Clearcutting'' – clean felling by complete exploitation and removal of all the trees in one operation ... '''a harvesting method'''
* ''Clearcutting method'' – a '''method for regenerating''' an even-aged community by removing all the mature trees
* ''Clearcutting system'' – a '''silvicultural system''' incorporating the clearcutting method to remove (clear) the mature community over a considerable area at one time<ref>Nyland, Ralph D. (2007). ''Silviculture: concepts and applications'', Ch 13 p. 277, 2nd ed. Prospect Heights: Waveland Press.</ref>

Confusion between these different uses of the term is common. Furthermore, as indicated above many variations mean technically correct usage may not be descriptive enough to know what is meant on that particular occasion.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

A clearcut is distinguished from selective logging where typically only a few trees per hectare are harvested in proportions dictated by management objectives. Clearcut logging is also distinct from wildland fire use, and from forest thinning. In these latter two it is common practice to leave trees that are considered undesirable, such as those that are too diseased, stunted or small to be marketable. Selective logging is usually practiced in areas with access to infrastructure.{{cn|date=July 2023}}