The visual effect of felling on small- and medium-scale landscapes in north-eastern Finland

The aim of the study was to assess how to locate logging operations in the scenically most appropriate way. A second objective was to find out whether the visual design principles adopted elsewhere are applicable in Finland. Different felling alternatives were created partly on the basis of landscape-architectural principles, and partly on the basis of actual felling methods. The options were illustrated as slides produced by computer software. A total of 190 respondents evaluated the alternatives shown in 23 slides. Forest scenes without any notable logging operations were preferred to those with the felling area visible. Conservation of hill silhouettes was important, regardless of whether the skyline was uniform or ragged. Seed trees improved the scenic appearance of felling sites, but residual solitary trees did not significantly enhance the visual quality of the scene. Summit forests were aesthetically most vulnerable to fellings, whereas lake shorelines and hillsides were more tolerant. A forest strip along shorelines improved the visual quality of felling sites. Irregular shapes were preferred to geometrical ones, as were horizontal shapes to vertical ones. Forestry personnel gave higher ranks than local residents and tourists to most of the logging options, while the respondents» preferences concerning untouched forests did not differ. Forestry experts also made more distinctions among the alternative options than the other groups. The results obtained would suggest that the visual design principles of logging are, to some extent, related to specific cultural contexts and natural conditions. In addition, principles adopted from landscape architecture are not always consistent with the publicʹs preferences.