"A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people."
-Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Timber is a renewable natural resource here in Minnesota. Timber is harvested just like a crop. The Department of Natural Resources is in charge of public lands. Now I am not saying that they are perfect in their management practices..but someone has to manage the timber on public land..and they do a fair job.
Timber should be harvested from time to time to stop the threat of disease that will wipe out entire species of trees in one area. The Lodgepole Pines out west are good examples of why plantings should not be all done at once with the same kind of tree, when the Mountain Pine Beetles came in..they had a hay day destroying entire stands.
Forest Fires are Mother Natures way of taking care of old stands of trees and regenerating the forests. Logging is one way to keep the threat of forest fires at bay and it opens up the dense canopy and allows new trees to begin growing. Renewable resource..either by fire or logging..at least with logging the lumber harvested is used, and wildlife is not displaced like it would be in a forest fire. I don’t particularly like the mess left behind by the loggers either..but I have noticed that some logging companies are much neater than others.
Far Guy and I like to watch them work..we heard that from this spot back in the woods that you could see Shell Lake. Way up there..and this was a zoomed in view..I never realized that this hill was that high.
I wondered if you could see it from Shell Lake..sure enough..
One day last week I spotted it.
I am not sure if the brush piles will be burned..or just left to decay and be homes for rabbits and squirrels. Trees will re-grow in this area eventually:)
We needed to thin out here on the Ponderosa several years ago so we had loggers come in. They do leave a mess. We let people come in and cut firewood for themselves with some of the timbers. It's sad when they down trees on fences and say nothing until you find your cattle on the neighbors.
ReplyDeleteLoved the pics Connie!
God bless your day sweetie! :o)
You are so right about the lodge pole pines of the Northern Rockies. They were hit hard by the beetles and turned into hundreds of acres of telephone poles. I can tell you from personal experience that they were great firewood.
ReplyDeleteBut when we had a dry summer in 1988 the whole thing went up in smoke. The forest service decided to consider it a "controlled burn" and let it go until Yellowstone Park and surrounding areas became hell on earth, I'm sure you know the story. Forest managers learned a lot from that little experience. Logging is messy but the alternative is certainly worse.
We took a road trip to the Washington coast a couple of weeks ago. There were entire hillsides logged. It was ugly. I hope there were little tiny plugs of future trees there that I couldn't see. I hope it wasn't just to make money that those trees were cut down.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how mother nature looks after things like this. We watch the show Swamploggers its amazing how logging and nature kind of go hand in hand! Nice photos and post ! Have a great day !
ReplyDeleteI cried when the loggers harvested the timber surrounding our homeplace, about 20 years ago. I felt bad for every tree that fell.
ReplyDeleteI remember my father-in-law telling me that the trees would grow back--and they eventually did. It's just hard to deal with while it's happening. Nice post!
Here in Washington State, the loggers can completely denude a hillside, make roads into the pristine areas, and it's really awful to see. Trees have always been seen as a natural resource in the Pacific Northwest because they supposedly grow back so quickly (relatively speaking, that is).
ReplyDeleteWe have hiked through areas where the hiking trails have been obliterated by the loggers. Very hard to take sometimes. Good post, though! Wildfire does kill everything, but it's Nature's way, I guess.
As long as logging is done responsibly it is a good thing. Better to have an open area for awhile then risk tree disease or even worse.. a wildfire.
ReplyDeleteI read that the Indians said Mother Earth was a living thing (which I agree) and that when the lightening strikes it is because Mother Earth has sent out a need for more energy.
ReplyDeleteI really liked that idea.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Good post Connie. In our rural farming area I'm the exception to the rule on several subjects including the DNR, which I think overal does a good job. My next door neighbor, writing to the local weekly refers to the DNR (Damn Near Russia.) Apparently many of the farmers don't like rules (a.k.a.) "socialism,"
ReplyDeleteOur neighbor is a Logger. Watching him carefully take down a tree is like watching a ballet. He takes them down, yes, but he also cares for them. He knows more about trees than anyone I've ever met. He knows what they need to thrive and is always eager to help others keep their trees healthy. Logging is a touchy subject in Oregon. But here in our "castle", we support the Loggers whole heartedly.
ReplyDeleteKisses,
Emma Rose
I think I liked it green rather than snow better.
ReplyDeleteGreat post....I like when people speak common sense!
ReplyDeleteWe sure agree here, the hubby loves to watch logging shows. They took his favorite one off this year, they did logging down in south carolina.
ReplyDeleteThat quote could be ammended to include - or covers the soil up with warehouses. Some of the PNW most intense farm land has been completely covered in my life time by warehouses and now businesses that like to move into warehouse complexes. I don't mind progress and a person ought to be able to do what they want with their land, but only up to a point.
ReplyDeleteAs for logging, I'm just a PNW girl raised by a man who loved his chain saw. The smell of fresh cut trees and old forest floor being stirred to a new phase of life, oh man.
I've signed up for ultimate dictator but no one has called me yet.
I wish people and governments, and loggers pay more attention to this issue too.
ReplyDeleteI lamented the shortage of good timber around our place here:
http://fruitofmylabour.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-latest-wip.html
and the destruction of my neighboring forest here:
http://fruitofmylabour.blogspot.com/2011/02/love-thy-neighbour.html
I love the amazing cracking sound a tree makes when it does break at the base - - - kind of sad, too - - - like a cry! You have made some excellent points. As long as replanting is done, I have no problem with logging. However, some of our carpenters say that timber is being harvested younger and younger which results in weaker lumber. I guess it doesn't matter the age though for paper mills?
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
ReplyDeleteThe old always have to make way for the young. Even with trees.
Most people don't realize that we have way more trees growing here in this country now than when Columbus landed. They are a renewable resource and if we don't harvest them, Mother Nature will and she doesn't care if your house goes up with them. In the Black Hills, near here, there are millions more trees now than when the Custer expedition came thru' back in 1874. And because the Sierra Club and the Nature Conservancy have fought every timber sale and almost ruined logging here, now the trees are dying all over from the Pine Beetles. It's a big problem.
Besides, if we don't cut them, we have to bring in lumber from Canada and that doesn't help the workers of this country. Sorry for the rant but I hate to see waste caused by people who have little to no knowledge about an issue!
Nature has a way of taking care of itself...
ReplyDelete