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Wolves Descend On Finnish Villages After Google Hacked Down 1,300 Acres of Trees (futurism.com) 66

Posted by EditorDavid from the does-it-make-a-sound dept.
Google chopped down a quarter of a million trees in a rural Finnish town, reports the Guardian, noting that Google "illegally stripped the entire area... taking even the top soil with it... [A]ll that remains is a vast expanse of mud."

Google was then ordered to temporarily stop work by the Finnish Licensing and Supervision Authority, because it turns out Google "failed to complete the necessary environmental impact assessments before clearcutting the land." Futurism notes one result was wolves descending on a nearby village: In the felling-site near the Finnish village of Otanmäki, the ensuing loss of prey has forced packs of wolves to search for food elsewhere: nearby villages. "We had wolves coming into the village because all the wild animals moved out of the forest," 53-year-old Otanmäki resident Anni Ranta told the Guardian. "They fled."
An ecologist estimates that an additional 150,000 trees were chopped at another data center site, according to the Guardian, and because the trees were illegally chopped down, they can't be sold to timber companies.

And Futurism notes it's just the latest ecological issue facing data center buildouts: In West Virginia, a grove of critically endangered Chestnut trees is under threat of being bulldozed to make way for a new Anthropic hyperscale facility. Outside of Fort Wayne, a chunk of Indiana's once-bountiful wetlands is being tilled to fit a new Google data center. In Southern New Jersey, a data center operator was recently slapped with a $1 million fine after inspectors uncovered 62 illegal gas generators belching exhaust into the surrounding environment.
Thanks to Slashdot reader fjo3 for sharing the news.

Wolves Descend On Finnish Villages After Google Hacked Down 1,300 Acres of Trees More | Reply

Wolves Descend On Finnish Villages After Google Hacked Down 1,300 Acres of Trees

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  • So much for do no evil (Score:5, Funny)

    by Mspangler ( 770054 ) on Saturday October 24, 2026 @05:25PM (#66391864)

    There are 640 acres in a square mile, so two square miles were cleared. So why does a data center need two square miles cleared? Haven't they heard of a second floor?

    Where did they get the greenhouse gas credits to make up for the two square miles of trees that are now CO2 producing compost?

    At least tulips were pretty.

    • Re:So much for do no evil (Score:5, Insightful)

      by snowshovelboy ( 242280 ) on Saturday October 24, 2026 @05:38PM (#66391872)

      trees don't buy or watch ads

    • So why does a data center need two square miles cleared?

      It reduces the shrapnel when the Russians bomb the place. Trees greatly amplify the damage from artillery and other high explosives.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Rei ( 128717 )

      There are 640 acres in a square mile

      [Sighs in metric]

    • My city requires all apartment buildings to have business space at the bottom. Can't wait to see them change it to data centers.

    • Re:So much for do no evil (Score:5, Interesting)

      by arglebargle_xiv ( 2212710 ) on Sunday October 25, 2026 @12:10AM (#66392144)
      The headline should really say "A different set of wolves descended on Finland". The first set were what caused the second set to descend.

      • Damn! I have a quote from TFA in my clipboard in preparation for a writing a wordier version of what you just said.

        Maybe the Finns should just establish a bounty on all wolves, including the human variety.

    • Re:So much for do no evil (Score:5, Informative)

      by rta ( 559125 ) on Sunday October 25, 2026 @01:35AM (#66392204)

      There are 640 acres in a square mile, so two square miles were cleared. So why does a data center need two square miles cleared? Haven't they heard of a second floor?

      Where did they get the greenhouse gas credits to make up for the two square miles of trees that are now CO2 producing compost?

      At least tulips were pretty.

      I had the same reaction, and i read TFA (at least the The Guardian one) and and it says something different. There it's only 815 acres total, and it's in two different plots (at least) that are some 50 miles apart. One of the areas is listed as 330 acres and another is not shown, but i guess is the balance of it.

      And the same article it quotes things like this:

      A former mining village, the area is known for its rare earth elements. Ranta’s family live at the centre of the village next to a triangular church spire and a former bar that has been empty for years.

      and

      The former entrepreneur and fisher wants Google to compensate by helping to restore the local salmon population destroyed decades ago by hydropower.

      So this isn't exactly a "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot" narrative. It's basically deindustrialized rust belt type places that are looking to not keep existing.

      As one environmentalist is quoted:

      He said, however, that he understood why authorities were trying to bring in new sources of investment and jobs, given the region’s ageing population. “Young people go to Helsinki and Berlin and Paris,” he said. “There are so few people. We have to sacrifice.”

    • Haven't they heard of a second floor?

      There's 3 things at play here:
      1) Datacentre equipment is heavy. Having a second floor is far more expensive than having just one floor, and the foundations need to be engineered in a very different way. Also the second floor means the first floor needs load bearing supports which take space and cost money, etc. etc.
      2) Construction sites are larger than what they are constructing. This is highly complicated in inner city constructions, but in the bush where you can just clear a bit of extra land, quite often

    • There are 640 acres in a square mile, so two square miles were cleared. So why does a data center need two square miles cleared?

      Probably for the guard towers, machine guns and barbed wire.

  • Finnish Wolves Finish Fled Villages (Score:4, Insightful)

    by SlashbotAgent ( 6477336 ) on Saturday October 24, 2026 @05:30PM (#66391866)

    Google bad. Wolves at the door. Google evil!!!!111

    Is it common for the Finnish government to issue permits when impact studies haven't been done, or reviewed? What if they had done the study and it said that wolves will eat your fucking faces? Would they have issued the permit then?

    This is a Finnish government fuck up. Google is only trying to Google and they had the OK, until they didn't.

    Also, Putin said that Finnish wolves can't drive tractors so they are pussy cats.

    I don't know who to believe. I'm finished.

    • Sorry. Disagree. Google Evil.

      • Sorry. Disagree. Google Evil.

        But that's a different subject. Where was the Finnish Government with permits, environmental impact statements, inspections for compliance?

        And contractors will do things on the cheap, down and dirty if allowed. That's why even if you Are building a house, you make certain all the permits have been filed, and you visit the site at various times to make certain it is being done correctly.

        Whatever Google is or isn't, the Finnish government is complicit.

    • Re:Finnish Wolves Finish Fled Villages (Score:5, Insightful)

      by test321 ( 8891681 ) on Saturday October 24, 2026 @05:55PM (#66391890)

      Is it common for the Finnish government to issue permits when impact studies haven't been done, or reviewed? What if they had done the study and it said that wolves will eat your fucking faces? Would they have issued the permit then?

      Can you point at the place where you believe it says they had a permit to clear the forest? What I read from the paper is Google acted on its own assuming a certain (wrong) understanding of the law.

      • Re:Finnish Wolves Finish Fled Villages (Score:5, Insightful)

        by outsider007 ( 115534 ) on Saturday October 24, 2026 @07:13PM (#66391946)

        It's easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to get permission.

        • It's easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to get permission.

          Sometimes you get it, sometimes not. A former neighbor bought the house next to me, He's an engineer and his father was in construction - a Master carpenter. I liked both of them. They did have a bit of a "We know better" thing going on.

          So they set about remodeling the house. It was good work, but they didn't get any permits. Things were going okay until they installed a new electrical drop and got caught after they disconnected power, and reattached it. They replaced the drop attached to the house with

        • We shall see. I think not. Unless it turns out google had their legal ducks in a row, I think they will be paying an astouding, and record-setting, fine... maybe even if they did. For google, it's a terrible narrative at a very very bad time.
        • A fine is just another type of permit to these people

      • What I read from the paper is Google acted on its own assuming a certain (wrong) understanding of the law.

        And Google possibly didn't care and thought if anyone complained it would be better for them to then ask for forgiveness than first ask and wait for permission, that they might not get. I hope they're fined *and* made to replace all the trees.

      • Is it common for the Finnish government to issue permits when impact studies haven't been done, or reviewed? What if they had done the study and it said that wolves will eat your fucking faces? Would they have issued the permit then?

        Can you point at the place where you believe it says they had a permit to clear the forest? What I read from the paper is Google acted on its own assuming a certain (wrong) understanding of the law.

        Finland is a modern nation, and modern nations have processes and permits required, especially for environmental impact. If Finland has no permitting process, and if any multinational company can come in and clearcut their forests just by showing up and clearcutting with no oversight, maybe it is time to consider implementing a permitting process.

        Here in the USA you have to comply with permitting and inspection even if you own the property. And were not supposed to be civilized.

      • Can you point at the place where you believe it says they had a permit to clear the forest?

        They halted work promptly when notified the government was taking exception.

        Anyway the whole story is almost devoid of the concept of legality, for whatever reason. Certain people are just sure it shouldn't have been allowed and want to see USA Big Tech heads roll.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by quenda ( 644621 )

      Story does smell like sensationalist bullshit. How many wolves live in a mere 5km^2 of central Finland?

      The site is ugly, but so is the so-called forrest around it. A monoculture (Scots pine?) of evenly spaced identical sized trees.
      It is a plantation, where clear-felling is normal practice. The Finns cut down all the trees to harvest the wood, then plant new seedlings on the empty fields. What "evil" Google is doing looks like normal Finnish commercial resource management.

      • TFS says Google took the topsoil too. Not helpful if you plan to grow anything else on the site.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by quenda ( 644621 )

          TFS says Google took the topsoil too. Not helpful if you plan to grow anything else on the site.

          I guess that sounds scary to people like us who know nothing about land management. Is is like mine-sites, where the top-soil is set aside and returned later? Is the management plan available online?

          Maybe it is bad, but it would be foolish to just believe the implications of articles like this. Whenever there is a newspaper story on a situation i know well, it is full of errors. So I assume they all are.

          This article starts with "‘Pure arrogance’: anger in Finland", so they are

      • How many wolves live in a mere 5km^2 of central Finland?

        No one said wolves lived there. They said the forest supported life that meant wolves went there to hunt. As for how much life is supported in an area like that? The answer is a shitload, just go ask a hunter.

        A monoculture (Scots pine?) of evenly spaced identical sized trees.

        No it's a natural forest. None of those trees are evenly spaced and they aren't identically sized beyond your own inability to understand what you see: Hint: Trees in a forest are competitive for light, hence most forests where a single large plant dominates result in trees growing to similar uniform h

      • Story does smell like sensationalist bullshit. How many wolves live in a mere 5km^2 of central Finland?

        I don't disagree about the sensationalist aspect.

        As to displaced animals, could be quite a few. We had a similar clearing near us maybe a mile away - even bigger, and we ended up with a lot of wildlife, squirrels, deer, various birds, and black bears. (note, I live in a forested village) I'm probably in a minority, but I enjoy watching bear and deer walking down our streets in the morning.

        What "evil" Google is doing looks like normal Finnish commercial resource management.

        Yeah, another AI BAD! story. If they are clear cutting and turning large areas into mud, they might need to do a littl

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by quenda ( 644621 )

          Yes, its really hard to know what to believe. I'm in Australia, so our forests are very different, with a big distinction between old-growth forests and plantations. I'm surprised to read that so much wildlife thrives in monoculture plantations in Finland.
          Reading more, biodiversity is highest in tropical rainforests, and lowest in "boreal" coniferous forests.
          Deer in the streets sound cool. Visit a golf course or cemetery in the outskirts of an Australian city and you may see

          • Yes, its really hard to know what to believe. I'm in Australia, so our forests are very different, with a big distinction between old-growth forests and plantations. I'm surprised to read that so much wildlife thrives in monoculture plantations in Finland. Reading more, biodiversity is highest in tropical rainforests, and lowest in "boreal" coniferous forests. Deer in the streets sound cool. Visit a golf course or cemetery in the outskirts of an Australian city and you may see countless kangaroos. But bear? Don't they eat people?

            Well, a bear can be pretty dangerous, if you surprise them or get between a mother and her cubs. And the species varies in aggression. Our black bears here in PA, are generally well behaved - just don't try to pet them! Grizzly bears and especially Polar bears are a different matter.

            And they haven't shown up in my area yet, but Elk are repopulating. Up north of here about 50 miles, they wander all over the place. Seeing a full grown bull elk is breathtaking. Huge and pretty majestic.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by dryeo ( 100693 )

            Supposedly, they weren't plantations, just pine forests where all the trees have a tendency to being the same size when viewed from a distance.
            Young forests, including plantations as well as land cleared for logging or cleared by fire supports a lot of wildlife whereas the old growth forests have very few large animals in them unless there is a salmon stream or such.
            The bears close to civilization are as scared of people as we are of them and rarely do more then the occasional swat. They can do quite a bit

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dryeo ( 100693 )

          I live just outside fast growing suburbia. Lots of forest being converted to housing etc. Also a series of bad berry crops in the mountains. There are a lot of bears right in town, deer too. The problem with the bears is the townsfolk aren't bear aware. While direct interactions between bears and people are rare with an occasional swipe at a person, a bear did grab a toddler earlier this year. Parent drove the bear away and cops shot it.
          The problem is bears getting habituated to humans, used to eating garba

          • The problem is bears getting habituated to humans, used to eating garbage, dropped fruit etc. A bear can go through a garage door easily, they're also good at opening car doors. Amazing the damage a bear accidentally locked in a car can do.

            I don't know if you saw the video I saw a while back. A bear was trapped in a car. Guy was trying to figure out how to get it out. he managed to get something hooked on to the door handle of the car, attached a 50 foot rope and pulled, while ready to hop in his vehicle. He pulls, pissed off bear flies out, but didn't go after the guy. Car was a stinking mess inside, bear ripped the interior apart, and was pretty much totaled.

            Anyways lots of bears end up shot by conservation officers simply by being bears. It's the shits as generally the bears are more scared of people then we are of them and with a bit of work you can keep them from getting used to eating your garbage.

            Most of ours seem to tread some middle ground. I've had only a few things damaged

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by dryeo ( 100693 )

              I've seen similar videos, bears have fantastic noses and usually there is a bit of food in the vehicle. They can sure make a mess. They knock over my compost (far from the house) a few times a year, walk through the garden but aren't really a problem as long as you keep aware.
              Birds usually get aggressive when nesting. Even the hummingbird does some pretty impressive dive bombing, pulling away at the last moment.
              The most irritating are the raccoon's, really tempted to get a 22 and shoot them, they're fucking

    • You clearly have no idea how this works. A permit to build a project allows you to start projects in stages. It's not a single stamp that gives you carte-blanche authority to do what the fuck you want.

      Projects are executed in phases, certain activities run in parallel. When you have an initial permission for construction you can start getting contracts ready while you apply for additional permits. Things such as performing impact assessments of the construction, obtaining land clearing permits, emissions pe

    • Is it common for the Finnish government to issue permits when impact studies haven't been done, or reviewed?

      That is a really good point - here in the USA, where we don't do anything right according to Slashdotters, construction has a lot of environmental impact to be done. If you want to see them get really serious, have a high quality stream (HQW) run through your property. There are very few allowances for clear cutting large areas, smaller areas like for pad construction must have a lot of protections enabled, and be completed in short order to avoid runoff. Want a real treat? The process of replacing a bridge

  • That's right, chum. Cutting down trees can bring the wolves down on a village.

    When will these villains learn that actions have consequences?

  • The nanny Finnish government made a mistake ? for profit no less damn...they are as human as the rest of us. I figured Elon would Heil them into helping him...you know for old times sake...

    "This is more Finland problem than Google fault."
    Just because no one stopped Google from committing ecological terrorism doesn't make them less culpable.

  • Read the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. The follow-up books are good to .... My Ishmael and The Story of B

  • Why not build data centres on already cleared Brownfields sites that have been cleaned up to the point there is no significant risk for commercial/industrial use?

  • Full of deer now that they've hacked down the biggest nearby stand of trees for a "town center". Gee, thanks, town.

    Wonder if we could exchange some deer for some wolves with the Finns?

  • It is typical behavior for American companies to do whatever they want regardless of the laws. The worst they'll suffer is a fine that is often less than the cost of complying, and much less when you factor in the opportunity cost incurred by the inevitable delays caused by complying. In most cases, you'd be better off saying "no" to data centers, although that would get in the way of your data sovereignty ambitions. Before allowing projects like this, you need to realize that American companies are not

  • If we can't boycott Google, maybe we can bring the wolves to 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway? We can't do that either? Is the Finnish Google like Nazi Finland from WWII?
    How did Google bypass the requirements?

    I must state that I'm not against data centers. But I'm in the US, where there is plenty of low-value ecosystem land.
    But I don't understand the point of all this data center necessity. What is AI doing in there?

  • Send the wolves to the construction site...

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