The practice of logging large swaths of land for timber. Typically thought of in a bad light, clear cutting is often the most ecologially friendly way to log a forest. The main alternative to clear cutting, selection harvesting, consists of selected trees being logged from a fully grown area. While that results in a cut that is prettier, beauty is only skin deep. After a selection harvest, no light reaches the forest floor and the growth of new trees is inhibited, whereas in a clear cut, new trees can grow to replace those that were logged in time, resulting in a healthier forest in the long run. But try telling that to someone who professes to care for nature. It's ugly, so they don't like it, in a real life case of being unable to see the forest for the trees.