Let's Talk About Trees

Tree Worship is old hat for the zealot environmentalist. Not new at all. Modern day Druids are doing what they have always done...looking at something that lives longer than they do and ascribing to it some eternal and mystical qualities. The truth is, of course, that trees are no more wise or eternal than a stalk of corn or a plate of broccoli. Lest you doubt me when I say that trees are very literally worshipped by some, consider the way the devout environmentalist places more value on trees than they do the life of a lumberjack and his ability to provide for his family. Environmentalists will think it a small thing to put whole communities of people out of work - or even spike trees so that these loggers will be killed! - rather than cut down a single sacred tree. Part of the definition of "worship" is to elevate something higher than yourself - humankind.

There are More Trees in this Country Today Than When the First Settlers Arrived. That's a fact. Not an opinion. How can this be? Simple - and obvious: trees are a renewable resource. Did you know that they grow seeds? I read that somewhere once. And if you are familiar with the word "exponential," you can easily see that - since each individual every tree grows dozens of seeds (or maybe more ;-) that they do increase exponentially in number. That's a part of the master-crafted design of our world. Yes, I have heard the arguments about "old growth" trees vs. newly-planted ones. I suppose if you take the short view, that seems like the next logical protest to say that the new trees we plant aren't as good as the old ones. But the pattern of renewal is the same - it just takes longer with slower growing trees. And as for the spotted owl who - supposedly - cannot live in anything else but old growth trees, I have this to say: First, wild animals are pretty much the most adaptable things out there. They do not just give up and die when they are forced to move by the meanies who want to harvest trees. Secondly, all of that talk about the spotted owl habitat pretty much died out (if you haven't noticed yet) when photos of spotted owls from all over the west were distributed living in all kinds of places - including K-mart signs. Of course, next came the cries of "I can't believe we are forcing them to live in Kmart signs!"

Oy Vey!

Trees, Like Other Resources, are Here for Us to Use. Yes, we should use them intelligently and with respect to our "caretaker" role in the world, but we should - of course - continue to use trees nonetheless. What happens to a tree if we don't use it? It lives forever, right? No! It withers and dies and falls over. Just like a stalk of corn would if it were not harvested at the end of the planting season. It's easy to see what a waste this would be in the case of corn. Easy to see because it happens within a short enough period that even the simplest people can observe the waste. Trees are ascribed their unique reverence mostly because they live longer than us...so a lot of people who lack the sophistication to understand something they don't directly observe cannot grasp that trees are just another vegetable. Add to this the environmentalists' natural romanticism of anything beautiful, and its easy to see why they revere trees the way they do. Of course, that romanticism is understandable and respectable. But many of them take it too far these days.

Trees Do Add a Uniquely Beautiful Aspect to Our Lives: I don't deny that trees are given added reverence too because they are beautiful creations that add a lot to our lives. It's true, and you would probably be surprised at how vehemently I have fought when trees were in danger of being cut down unnecessarily. I love them too. I would never buy a house in a subdivision that had clear cut the trees, because I love the way they look and feel. But I don't worship them, and I know what a waste it would be not to use them for wood and all the other things they are good for. I want new ones to be replanted when they are cut down. Doing that is responsible - and ensures that logging jobs will survive beyond the expediency of the moment. That approach takes care of everybody - the lumberjack as well as the party politic environmentalist - and is the kind of responsible stewardship to which we are called.

We could please everyone if everyone were more reasonable.