Wednesday, August 21, 2013

They Just Can't Help Themselves.

Over time, I've been writing articles about how "forestry" handles forests. Mostly, it's been to get my own pain out of my system. I grew up in a logging and pulp world, and - well - that's never going to heal (You'll find a bunch of those articles at the end of this post. They've got email and youtube and all sorts of other links in them).

But the logging companies just couldn't help themselves. It's not enough they destroyed the Pillar Point Rec Area, taking down a big-leaf maple tunnel (and here's the document on who signed off on that); it's a slap in the face of the people who live here.

Now they've finally had to come right in between neighborhoods in a small town, in a full-blown clearcut in Clallam Bay.

Look, I know I can't stop all the horrible abuses in the world. And I could have survived, if just a little nature was left, here and there. I could have driven through clearcuts if Pillar Point had been there as a little relief. But what do I do now? If I just stand back this time, another company will be around the point next year, cutting down trees with eagle's nests in them, on a cliff, with no concern that a slip cliff would come down on the homes below. They just had to keep poking, didn't they?

Mother tree.
And I can make this pronouncement. Anybody who doesn't go in and rip out resources, the people who do say we have no families; it's an obvious insult. Or simply poorly thought out. Don't think so? Well, look at these signs. That's what they posted for everybody to see. And I want to know who paid for that expensive print run. And since they're about activities on State lands, I get to ask, under freedom of information. Well, I do.

Look, sooner or later these logging companies are going to go after me and try to make me take down these posts. Because they really, really, REALLY can't help themselves. I'll post any paperwork or emails I get from them. Because, as Mr. Manning and Snowden taught us - we all have to stand up. If nothing else, logging companies are starting to feel sorry for themselves. They don't have to; they can cooperate and grow up.

And while we're at it, here's the kid's tree house. It's in a big double Douglas Fir, grown from an older nurse stump.
Kid's tree house.

It's a "mother tree" - the basis for the fungal network that stores and feeds
water and nutrients from the big central tree back into surrounding trees. Logging companies are busily chipping down trees into toxic products that make us sick, and putting them into from materials in foods to materials that outgas in homes for years. It's all planted firmly in the 1950's, when All Chemistry Was Good. It's doubtful "forestry science" even knows what these big trees do, or what it means. And if the people involved do - more shame on them.

Mother tree root base
It's not the 1950's any more. It's 2013. Mature, learn, study. And don't be like the guy I just had a conversation with, whose only protest against "wilderness" was that the logging companies wouldn't let people come in and cut firewood from the slash. The guy was a former dairy farmer, and when I tried to tell him that burning what was left back into the soil was the only - token - form of fertilizer these companies could manage, and even made the connection to his fertilizing his corn crop, he just didn't get it. He wanted some little thing, all for himself, and he can't see past that.

If nothing else, being allowed onto forestry land - even a "wilderness" compromise - to thin dog-hair stands for firewood
Destruction of old growth in Audubon area


Are they drinking? Serious question.
would contribute to the health of a forest. Forests have lived with humans for thousands of years, and on this continent, the management was far better than it was on my home continent. A forest can take some thinning and underbrush burns and food-harvesting. It can't take every single tree, large or small - and especially large - being chewed down to the earth every 30 years - with no replacement of thousands of years' worth of nutrients. It just can't. We already know this from Easter Island, Scotland, Ireland, and most of the middle east and the Mediterranean countries. They blew it.

Speaking of blowing; we evolved with trees. They make the level of oxygen we need, and sink the level of Co2 we need to be removed. They are our lungs and our cooling system. What is wrong with us? Is it really so important to pay for machinery to destroy our life support to pay for machinerty to... well, we all know what a vicious cycle is.

I'm going to hand this on to the next people who might do something about it. The Sunsets West co-op in Clallam Bay is where to go to start the networking for people who just tired of an old, broken, poorly-planned system, that has every possibility of simply bringing on the great human die-off faster. 

Good luck folks. You'd better run in the long run, because the future of human life - and any other life - on this planet depends on it. We're all in this together, whether we like it or not. It's work and do, or die. This time, it's your life.

And read ANYTHING by Jane Goodall. I think she's the only sane person left. 

Now here are the articles and links:







2 comments:

theo said...

Hello!
It’s me, Mother Gaia. You know, Earth. I keep hearing these amazing statements from members of your species about how your current actions threaten life on me. Let me assure you, anything you silly bipedal apes do on me will not cause life to disappear from myself. No, the only thing that will truly do that is the end of the main sequence to our star. Don’t understand that last statement? How sad. Your species is incredibly smart in the acquisition of data about all facets of existence, including the cosmos. It is, I believe, called science. Regardless, you have reached a point in your specie’s existence whereby you have become so successful a life-form that you now impact totally, the bio-sphere.

Again, don’t know what that means? Sniff, it truly amazes me that you can possess so much knowledge, yet, cannot it apply it where it most obviously longs to be applied. You, as a species, live on a FINITE resource, me. Yet, you persist in following economic philosophies that stipulate perpetual growth. Call me cautious, but I do not understand how my FINITE presence can allow infinite growth. I would expect rational discussion on this issue as obviously your species has reached the limits of its ability to continually grow. Sadly, I don’t see any such discussion because, you stupid little creatures, you still act like the little bi-pedal life-forms that existed about 3 million years ago. You are still operating your highly advanced society on brain stem function. You have even given the most powerful life-form in your society, the corporation, the ability to operate outside societal welfare requirements. Corporations have been told to exist only for growth and profit, regardless of how detrimental that may be for your specie’s health. Fascinating. It is almost like you are trying to prove that intelligence is not a survival characteristic in the long term. Certainly, requiring corporations to be run as totally sociopathic life-forms would seem that that is your choice.

The good news, however, is that I, Gaia, do not care if you destroy yourself and much of my eco-systems in the process.. Life, is much more resilient than your global society. My bacteria arose from nothing and you, pathetic little life-forms, totally dependent on bacteria by the way, will not destroy my initial creations. Everything else arises form bacteria. Enjoy the weekend, all my lifeforms. I will be somewhat sad to see you go, homo sapiens, but fear not, life will go on without you.

Donna Barr said...

Well, you're not Mother Earth - and you just drove the White Rhinos to extinction. But if you mean that nobody will miss us - and I say "Nobody," because both native peoples and science say we're all relatives - that's a bumper sticker that covers the entire point.