At New College Oxford there is a great dining hall which was built in the 1500's. The roof is supported with massive Oak beams about 2 foot square by 40 foot in length. A few years back an inspection revealed the beams to be eaten up by beetles, a common problem for all oak. The Trustees were totally freaked out because it would be impossible to find trees of that size and quality now. One member suggested they look on some of the university's landholdings to see if there were any Oaks available. They called their forester who had never really been to the campus and told him their problem. His response was; "we been wondering when you would call. Five hundred years ago when the college was built the founders had planted an Oak grove dedicated and preserved for the specific purpose of replacing the beams. During all that time the foresters, far removed from the campus, managed and protected the trees knowing they had a purpose! Can you imagine that kind of thinking now? we would have had solutions to our energy problems already in place. We wouldn't be destroying irreplaceable resources without a back up plan. Stewart Brand, the guy who published Whole Earth Catalogue writes about this kind of long term thinking. Are there other examples of that kind of long range thinking? Space trave maybe, what else?
Hungry travellers in the old days would eat their horses if they got hungry enough. Nah, that's stupid.
Cue the long-haired, hippie, tree-huggers to chain themselves to those trees so they can stop anyone from cutting them down to recover the wood. :-D
500 years to wait is a damn long time. I wonder how many times before the question has been brought up. I can't imagine he is the only one thus far.
We'll know they've really not learned a lesson if they don't replant oaks in the grove when they cut these down.
Damn! Walsh we don't need another thread in Random thoughts lost to this bottomless pit of a debate. I've been posting in the Stoners Lounge until this blows over, and you know what I'm sick of it! Not thinking long term Walsh.
