On Mar 19, 4:35 pm, TreeFarmer wrote:

As a new member with no degrees, no formal forestry education
except lots of seminars, 45 years in the woods, first as a logger
(veneer and then sawlog and a little pulp in poor years, now in my
15th year as a specimen tree grower with growing operations in four
states, I look to the professionals for hopefully good unbiased
research, and to the amateur huggers for passion and fresh ideas. ENTS
to me, spoke in many voices that was leavened with common caring for
the fabric of the forest not the economics but the biological good and
majesty of our trees. Without the forest this planet as we know it
dies. Regardless of degrees or organizations, regardless of man's
petty disputes of hierarchy, our forests need us (all of us) now more
than ever, to hold the tide of man back, to corral and channel our
disruptive and voracious appetite for timber with a longer term view
than a 20 year plan for Loblolly. Walk softly, leave no trace, harvest
responsibly using sustainable BMP's, and ENTS's mission of eduction
and big tree celebration will be an enjoyable passion. Look to the
value of the infromation provided and not the title from wence it
came. Even babes can have wisdom. John Muir should speak to all of us.
Ren

== 1 of 5 ==
Date: Thurs, Mar 20 2008 5:06 am
From: dbhguru@comcast.net


 Ren,

I second what James has said. Your words are eloquent and laden with meaning. They give pause for all of us to reflect on the roles we in ENTS are privileged to play, if we so choose, in protecting forests and trees and celebrating them in ways to inspire others who are distant from our arboreal friends. In presenting your thoughts, you clearly rose above the fray. You stepped outside the business/professional box to remind us of what really is at steak. Is it about turf, status, hierarchy, or economic security, or is it about saving the planet's dwindling forests? I suppose it depends on where one stands. Those of limited perspective, will argue that planted, uniformly young loblolly stands are indeed forests.
Some will say that John, with his often combative style, reaped what he sewed. I'm more charitable and would have much preferred to see him stay on with us because he did offer valuable insights. Still, I remain sympathetic to the forester's point of view and have expressed understanding for those who would protect their profession from what they view as interlopers. It is a tough call to make. Upon reflection, your last sentence sums it up pretty well, though, i.e. "John Muir should speak to all of us".
I, for one, hope you will share your views and relate your woods experiences with us. What are some of the enduring lessons that you have learned over the course of your years in the forest. How have your views changed over time? What inspires you most?

Bob

== 2 of 5 ==
Date: Thurs, Mar 20 2008 6:28 am
From: TreeFarmer

I think the most enduring lesson I've learned in my few years of
working in the woods is the enduring nature of forests, the will to
grow and survive, many times in circumstances that astonish me. Wether
the destruction of hurricanes (Katrinia our most recent example), mass
extinctions like American Chestnuts, Elms and now Hemlocks, and the
wholesale clearcut harvesting of the worlds forests many trees somehow
seem to survive, cling to life and spread their specie wether we wish
it or not (Alianthus). Even worldwide all specie extinctions (Yucatan)
produced survivors, like the Dawn Redwood and Ginko. So when I walk
the woods I marvel at the competition, the diversity, the web of
associated life, the forests make possible. I know that the forests
will endure as each of us in our own small ways can strenghen that
forestry web. I started out as a kid with a Homelite cutting firewood
for our farm stove, aspired to a Stihl 090 and brought many a giant
down never realizing how few there were left. Learned selective
cutting and BMP's as the woods I worked in became less and I grew
more. Realized that I had to grow as much as I harvested, and found
that growing more tree held more enjoyment and value than I ever
gained in cutting them. Today I am inspired most by the growing
undercurrent of the green movement, that while it may be trendy, seems
to have deep roots in younger generations, that we all can mentor and
pass on our knowledge too. So if each of us takes on the duty to
mentor one forester, one farmer, one ecologist, one human in our
accumalated wisdom we too will have have joined the forestry web of
life. 

Ren

== 3 of 5 ==
Date: Thurs, Mar 20 2008 6:41 am
From: "Joseph Zorzin"


Forests are enduring. But when loggers cut the best and leave the rest, they leave the forest genetically degraded, unhealthy, and far less valuable. This is how almost all forestry on this planet is done. It's wonderful that environmental groups have struggled so hard to defend especially beautiful places, rare and endangered species and habitats, and the miniscule amounts of remaining old growth- it's just too bad they don't offer more support to the few of us trying to end the ongoing wastage of forests that occur as the wood industry cuts the best and leaves the rest. The way I view it, such bad logging is an environmental, aesthetic and economic catastrophe. Oh well, I'll have no progeny but if I did, I would all the more be concerned about the future of this planet. As it is, I am very concerned about that future because to me, "Mother Nature" is very real. It really is a divinity- far more real than superstitious grandpa like figures who'll judge us at the last judgment, along with his angels and devils and saints- all just illusions- Mother Nature is real and we're all gonna be returned to her bosom in a box or as ashes- so, why do we continue to allow forests to be whacked?

Joe