A close-up of a muddy logging track cutting through thick damp soil featuring a single metal clipboard resting against a massive freshly severed tree stump.

Study needs 400 more years to see if the trees come back

Researchers applied chainsaws to a massive test area in Alaska to see what would happen.

Dr. Petra Voidwell18 Aug 20261 min read

Researchers are conducting a massive federal trial to see if removing trees makes them disappear. The study uses heavy machinery to test the hypothesis on millions of acres. Early data confirms the forest is gone.

"...and then we just count the stumps," said my co-author Dr. Aris Thorne. We stood in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. Our federal research team is conducting a massive trial. We want to see what happens when you log a pristine ecosystem.

The hypothesis is incredibly dull. We suspect removing every tree leaves the area with no trees. We are testing this on a massive scale. The government gave us heavy machinery for the study.

We established a robust sample size for the experiment. The test subjects include 60 million old-growth cedars.¹ We also tagged a control group. The control group is a single plastic fern in a federal office building.

We applied a treatment called clear-cutting to the test area. Clear-cutting is a method where you chop down everything until nothing blocks your view. The initial data is exactly what we expected. The trees fall down.

Observing the wildlife

The project also tracks the local fauna. We introduced logging trucks into habitats that never had roads. A roadless area is just a forest that lacks asphalt. We fixed that data gap quickly.

We are monitoring the grizzly bears. When you take away the woods, the bears get confused. This behavioral shift is statistically significant. Our p-value proves the bears did not leave by random chance. A p-value is a math tool that confirms we ruined it on purpose.

A wide shot of a misty overcast valley where half the hillside is dense green pine forest and the other half is entirely bare dirt with a yellow excavator.

We did encounter one minor flaw in our methodology. We forgot to measure the shade before we removed the canopy. Now it is very bright outside. We will note this in the appendix.

I must offer a careful hedge about our conclusions. We cannot prove the forest is gone forever. Dirt is highly unpredictable. A new ecosystem might emerge by the next ice age.

The field work concludes this coming Wednesday. We expect a completely flat horizon by noon. Our findings will show that saws cut wood. It is a triumph of the scientific method.

Footnotes.