The ecological disaster is that these kinds of forest are green dead zones. no other native plantlife can survivie in this ecosystem, if you can even call it that. Silka Pine should be considered an invasive species, IMO.
For what were the areas used before being turned into wood plantations? The sentiment in this thread seems to be that it was, or could have been, thriving green wildlife, but werent those areas formerly designated for commercial use as well? The article explicitly mentions farmland. Thats not really a functioning ecosystem either.