Chaka wrote in message ...
Larry Harrell wrote:

No previous forester has had to consider all
the things that today's timber markers have to juggle as they play
"tree god" in our National Forests. Luckily for you I am a benevolent
"tree god" who values ecology over the evil "V" word: VOLUME!

Your humorous nickname of "tree god" is actually quite accurate, and very disturbing.

I meant it to be that way because, along with the power of life and
death over the forest, I also feel the responsibility that comes with
wielding a paintgun. I always use the paintgun like an artist's tool,
sculpting the forests into something better.

I say this because the
practice of thinning trees reminds me of the practice of blood letting from the early days of medicine. Both
practices are not only ineffective but are actually harmful to the poor victim. And although both are done
with the best of intentions they proved to be misguided.

Do you thin and weed your garden? Do you use pest control? Do you
fence in your crops with chicken wire? A better analogy, in my mind.

I haven't heard you address the fact that many of the fires we experienced this summer were actually
cleansing and beneficial to the health of the forests. And that many of the areas only suffered severe burns
over a small percentage of the areas originally thought to have been devastated. Doesn't this demonstrate
once again that nature can take care of itself?

Yes, those more "natural" burns ARE beneficial but, high-intensity
burns are VERY bad for forests and the land and water. Until we get to
a point where we can freely re-introduce fire back into our forest
eco-systems, we have to reduce fuel buildups. Then, and only then, can
we use fire in a natural and beneficial way.

Larry