I came across this article that says it all. After a few minutes of thought and a sip of coffee, the following transpired:
- My initial find lead to another article with a more positive spin.
- That lead to the book Getting a Grip added to my reading list.
- Not to mention the movie The 11th Hour that I must see.
Time to get motivated.
If you want an understanding of my concern, might I suggest the following books:
- Field Notes from a Catastrophe – (real talk about our situation)
- The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals – (great information on our food industry and better alternatives)
- Life As We Knew It – (an apocalyptic novel that avoids politics and war in showing how a Northeast American family deals with a harsher world)
As recent transplants to the beautiful state of North Carolina and escapees from rampant overdevelopment in Florida, we were happy and content for nine months. We enjoyed our 71-acre hardwood forest (which we unfortunately did not own) behind the house and thought that it would be a long time before “anything could happen” there.
Well call me naive, but three weeks ago they started clear cutting every single tree in the area. Now it has become my personal issue too. The pain of this destruction was incredible and far beyond anything I could have imagined or had experienced in this lifetime.
Although my husband and I have tried to live well within the smallest carbon footprint we could achieve, I see that this isn’t enough. My first step is to start writing again and so I have submitted a letter to the local newspaper. I also plan to submit it to every North Carolina newspaper I can find on the internet to create some awareness of this horrific statewide activity.
NC landowners who have held their land for ages apparently are being talked into “clear cutting” and selling their hardwoods as a quick way to make a lot of cash (for them). Certain mega-concerns in the paper and wood industries further lull the landowners with promises of long-term investments by promising to replant (with the blessing of the NC Forestry Service…) these devastated areas in pine trees so that they have a cheap, unltd. supply of wood for decades to come. The landowners think that they will get lots more money in the future from the pine harvests (in 10, 20, 30 years, etc.)
This makes for a very homogeneous ecosystem that sustains very little diversity of life, both for animals and plants. Besides it takes years for even the pines to grow large enough to offer shade and protection.
Had this not happened right under my nose, I might have gone the rest of my life living with the realization about deforestation, but not trying to do anything about it. Keeping it in perspective, is 71 acres razed to the ground as significant as the loss of the ancient forests? Maybe not, but every little bit counts towards the whole, and we have to do whatever we can, a step at a time, no matter how trivial it may appear to be at first.
Thanks. Elisabeth