The Forest for the Trees

The Forest for the Trees

Are we one in the spirit and one with the Earth? It seems we have promoted conservation for decades. Many of us are tired, but have the money powers won?

Walking in the forest, I delight in the spring blossoms, the early songs of birds, and even the drumming of the Pileated Woodpeckers who seem to live just outside my door.

Those who oppose us say we hold back progress, by which they mean profits. As the saying goes, “They can’t see the forest for the trees.” Where I see “The Tall People,” they see board feet of timber harvest. Where I see a beautiful mushroom topping off a long chain of interconnected threads that link tree to tree and tree to soil, they see nothing at all.

When timber falls to the axe, the slash piles decay. They give carbon back to the air we breathe, along with smoke to choke us all as we go broke paying medical bills. One scientist said that returning this carbon to the atmosphere is humanity’s primary ecological purpose.

At night, I startle awake, believing that the last trees have already fallen, their cellulose used to create paper on which money is printed. I have heard that I shout in my sleep.

The good news is that it is mostly we humans who are threatened by these actions. When we finally complete this self-destructive path on which our species is engaged, some other creatures will become the planet’s dominant species. This gives me hope.