You are standing in the midst of a windrow. Logs, stumps, soil, and vegetation were pushed here with logging machinery by those who were preparing to plant new trees after the area had been clearcut. The idea was to "clean up" the land, making it easier to plant, to manage, and - eventually - to harvest. This treatment scraped all of the valuable wood and topsoil from the forest floor and concentrated it into these rows. Both above and below the windrow, the forest floor has an impoverished look to it - from an ecological perspective. It is crucial that there be rotting wood on the forest floor, as it provides a habitat for small animals and plants and it contributes to the formation of soil and nutrient pools.