TREES OF LIFE:FORESTS IN PERIL
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May 22nd, 2015

5/22/2015

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We are getting ready to take a trip to the north woods in Canada for a fly-in fishing expedition. We'll spend a week relaxing and dialog with the lodge owners that live all summer very close to nature. John grew up with a deep appreciation for the complexity of our remaining forested lands and I am sure feels very comfortable in this environment. There is simply no better way to understand and appreciate the complexity of our back-country environment than through personal, empirical observation. This is the wisdom referred to in the Seventh Fire Prophecy of the Anishinaabe people when they talk about the treasures left along the trail by their ancestors. I am convinced this wisdom, "ability to read the land", is the missing link in the science of forest land management. My concern is that this wisdom is being pushed aside and lost as we become a more urbanized society and our quest for wealth and affluence drives our decision making. Somehow, we must slow down and re-think the demands we are placing on our remaining natural resources and the sustainability of human life on this planet.
    Today, we are told the top environmental issue we face is population expansion, and the third issue is deforestation. We have destroyed slightly more than half of the forest cover that once covered this planet's land base. It is time we start the process of bringing our life style in balance with nature. Iris and I have been discussing opportunities to make a difference and believe we need to start with the environmental education programs at the elementary and intermediate school level. Our hope is to find interest at a college or university to undertake a project to develop a series of videos designed to help young people appreciate the need to be able to observe and understand the complexity of our natural surroundings. It is important that we record the traditional knowledge of our elders while we still can. It would be interesting to hear things you are doing or ideas you have, that might further efforts to re-kindle our appreciation for the complex relationships that exist within our natural environment. Please use the contact information on this website to let us hear your thoughts.            
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May 05th, 2015

5/5/2015

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We are back in Michigan for the summer and had a great winter in New Mexico. We were able to visit several very old sites in southern New Mexico where early Native American people once occupied the land. This trips allowed us to put together a great collection of photographs of the Indian petroglyphs from several sites. This rock art was probably 1000 to 1500 years old. Observing how these people lived and survived in the harsh environment, how close they were to Nature, forces one to consider what our future holds as we continue to disregard the lack of balance we have created in our human environment. As a forest scientist, these considerations certainly force me to reflect upon my 34 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, and and question what has, and is, being done to our forested lands? 
Recently, I have been corresponding with several forest scientists on the internet. One of the newer thoughts has been to push the concept of " Sustainability" for the management of natural resources and our remaining forests. The concept of "sustained yield" in forestry was introduced back in the 1880's and 90's by early forestry leaders, ( if we don't harvest more than we grow each year we can provide a continual flow for future generations). Sustainability is fine , but it must be coupled with BALANCE within our environment. How do we develop a sustainable economy when people who live on the North American continent require 20 acres to produce the energy and production for each person, yet when you divide the total acres on the planet by the world population, there are only 4 acres available per person.
There is no simple answer, but certainly the time has arrived when all of us are being challenged to consider where we are going rather than how we improve our financial status! WHAT WE DO TO OUR FORESTS WE DO TO OURSELVES!
           
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