Dangerous Trees; To cut or not to cut?

Unless they pose some SERIOUS threat, I say let them be... they have more right to be here than we do.

 

chop, but do it in moderation

 

This poll is about as intelligent as clear cutting is.

In all things, we should strive to balance our actions with nature. There is nothing wrong with cutting a tree down if you are a) going to use the wood, or b) it is sick or dying or c) someone in authority is going to charge you money for not doing cutting it down.

The last one is only there because there are cases such as Blackcats and it makes zero sense to spend that kind of money for trees. Those laws that put people in that position should be taken off the books.

I have cut literally hundreds and hundreds of trees in my life and will likely cut hundreds and hundreds more. I don't cut them for fun, or for profit. I cut them in order to help forests grow healthy trees, for safety, for heat, and to REDUCE my ecological foot print by opening up a solar circle around my home, reducing the need to cut even more trees for heat.

As for cutting trees to supply the products we need in our daily lives, that depends on how much respect we give to those items. If you are constantly using tree paper (normal paper) to make party decorations, to write reports in triplicate that nobody ever reads and so on, or you abuse your wood products and toss them out on whims (ie furniture), then it is wrong.

However, if you are using the trees and their products in a sustainable manner, then it is a part of the balance we need to find.

Extremes, on any matter, are always wrong. People who use arguments such as, "Clearcutting is wrong and happening, so I argue for no tree cutting to compensate" is childish and detremental to the idea of finding a balance within nature.

Like it or not, we (people) are a part of nature. Trying to ignore that is pointless.

Trying to find a balance where our needs are met while maintaining healthy forests is the way to go.

 

we must flow with Nature's fluid structure, not attempt to bend it to our rigid one

 

hi there how would you explain youre flow,cos lately i cant get this flooww thing out my head,in fact i dont want it out of my head,its so coool,just seeing people,in rivers swimming against the tide of slavery,and all they need to do is let go!let go and floow with the river,it is so peaceful,in fact beautiful.is this similar in anyway:sunny:

 

Trees are a sustainable resource. I've went from heating with propane (made from oil) to heating with wood. I've replanted many trees. Mostly fruit trees and a few oaks and walnuts. I have two huge black locust trees on the north side close to the house. They look like they're dead but that's how black locust looks till they get a few leaves in the summer. I would love to make split rail fencing out of them. Very hard and water resistant wood. They pop up wild all over the yard and I selectively let some grow. They grow FAST and have sharp thorns.

 

I think it's absolutely horrid that the electric company mutilated the trees on my street far more than needed; but if a tree needs cut, a tree needs cut.

A tree can take out a house's foundation and a falling branch could kill a person.

 

At my last job I worked at a private campground. One could say I made my living off of trees. In the 10 years I worked there I cut down one alder. It had been classed as a 'Danger' tree. I brought it down between a small shed and the utilities. Afterwards we bucked it up into firewood. Alder makes for pretty good firewood tho I personally prefer cherry or maple.

During the time I worked there we had a contractor whose business was taking down dead and dangerous trees before they came down in windstorms clobbering buildings or vehicles. For the most part the downed wood was harvested to be used as firewood. I prefer wood heat. It warms your cockles many times before it ever sees the inside of a woodstove. Least ways if you're doing it right it surely does.:sunny:

 

Good point. Chopping wood and hauling it keeps one in good shape too. Especially good for winter months when we're more sedentary. I should have all the wood cut by winter but that never happens.. By February I'm usually hustling for firewood like a crackhead.lol

 

It's a simple rule you know... cut a cord of wood a week during the warmer months and you don't need to slog in the winter...

So says the person who never has more then a weeks worth cut at once...

 

Cut them trees!

Clearcutting mimmiks natural (original) fire disturbances in the forest. AN ongoing process since trees grow. Now most fires are put out before they can get to such sizes.

It is easy to make false statements on a subject that one has no education in
or knowledge of.
Being the only member on the 'anti-harper' club does not qualify one to speak on forestry related issues!

 

Forest fires renew a forest, in some cases fires are the only way in which a forest is renewed. Some trees in fact NEED the heat from a forest fire to propogate.

Stopping forest fires is most definitely causing an imbalance in the cycle...

One that clearcutting does NOT mimic...

Clearcutting goes in and destroys a forest system, leaving being chemicals and pollutants from the operation while crushing and destroying thousands of habitats that are natures protection from forest fires.

It also in no way does anything to help the species that need the heat from forest fires... When replanting does occur, it is done by replanting a single species of tree with spacing set to block out everything except for that species, further eroding the bid-diversity of the forest...

So, perhaps YOU should go get educated before you try to attack people?

 

There are many plants with poisonous leaves, dangerous thorns or seeds which grip your skin with painful barbs so always take a local guide if exploring unfamiliar places. Some tropical native foods need special preparation to remove poisons (Manchineel). Don't buy something in the market and experiment, find out how to cook it. Always have antihistamine on board.

 

If your point is as incontrovertible as you seem to take it to be (not commenting one way or another) then you should be able to rely on its veracity without resorting to ad hominem tactics. If this is your preferred style of debate then I say it would probably play better elsewhere.

There is a school of thought that holds forest fires to be part of the natural cycle- that not only does it consume accumulated dry underbrush from numerous seasonal cycles but replenishes to the soil and ecosystem through the burning, nutrients that gradually are taken from the soil in the development of a forest- by cutting and removing valuable tinder in this.

I suggest to not cut but to help manage forests by a continual series small, controlled burns planned in patters that create natural firebreaks in case the real McCoy rears its ugly head.

Putting this out there- I wouldn't cast aspersions on the topic as it has inspired some very decent response apart from the acerbic bickering.

 

we've destroyed so much.... just stop. We have recycled paper, we've done enough damage, just leave them all be!

 

Falling branches do kill and are more deadly than most know. Always look above for dead limbs. My farmer-neighbors lost their 10 yr. old daughter because the limb they tied a swing to was bad. She was swing and it fell on her head. Now there is a lighted memorial with an angle statue where the accident occured. Her mom changes it up every season. When i learned about her I immediently cut down the tree swing I made for my boys. Who would have thought something like that could happen! So sad!

What Tom said! Im all against clear cutting. It does cause the ecoligical 'systems' to be destroyed. Man cannot create or reverse the destruction of 'systems' once they are gone. It takes thousands of years for ecological systems to evolve.