How to Clear Land
Whether you’re building a construction project or you’re planning to make a garden or farm, clearing land is the first step you need to make your project a reality. Clearing land can be a very difficult and complicated process, so you need to call in some experts and professionals to do that for you. Here are some things you need to know about clearing land.
Ecology
Plants, animals, and other wildlife may grow and thrive in different types of land. It is very important to have someone assess the land first to check if there are any threatened or endangered species that may be affected by a land clearing project or task. The environmental impact of a land clearing project should always be noted; sometimes, clearing land may do more harm than good.
Before clearing land, here are some things you have to remember:
Get the necessary permits from the government or federal agency before clearing land.
Assess the risks of the clearing project. If you’re building a home or any other structure, it is wise to plan your project so that you clear as little of the land as possible.
Clearing by Hand
Clearing land by hand is the oldest way of preparing land for agriculture or construction work. Manual clearing is still used to this day to prepare a piece of land for clearing by heavy machinery, or to finish clearing tasks after the land has been cleared by heavy equipment. To clear land by hand, workers use hoes, rakes, shovels, mattocks, axes, and other hand tools.
Clearing by Machine
Clearing woods, forests, and jungles through hand tools alone can take up a lot of time and effort. For thick brush, tree stumps, and other vegetation, you may need to rent out heavy equipment like mechanical augers, backhoes, and bulldozers. You also need to transport the waste materials with trucks. Machine clearing is usually done when there are no endangered species in the land, or no properties are already standing in the land.
Slash-and-Burn
Slash-and-burn, also known as swiddening or kaingin, is one of the oldest ways of clearing the land. Slash-and-burn was once used by landowners to quickly clear away brush and make the land suitable for farming. Part of the vegetation was cut and allowed to dry, and then acted as a fuel as the land was carefully set on fire. The method is no longer used extensively, although some small communities still practice slash-and-burn agriculture.
Clearing the land takes a lot of time and effort to complete, but it leaves you with a blank slate by which you can work on construction or farming projects. With these tips, you can safely and conveniently clear a parcel of land efficiently.