I think this country is like a tree that has been “girdled”. For those who don’t know the term it means to make a cut around the trunk of a tree just deep enough to penetrate through the inner bark all the way around. This allows sap to flow up through the inner tree to the leaves but does not allow the flow back down to the roots of the tree. A girdled tree will continue to grow above the cut for a season and maybe most of a second summer but it stops growing immediately below the cut. After a year or so the roots are dead and the whole tree dies and rots where it stands. I like to use the method on sweetgum trees that are in the way because it prevents shoots from appearing below the cut. If you just cut a sweetgum down it will produce a forest of shoots which develop into a cluster of young trees growing from the old stump, girdling prevents this. After the roots die you can cut the tree down and burn it without concern for new sprouts.
That’s good to know! I’ve got about 25 acres of woods I’m trying to thin.