Thats too bad. I dont approve of that and I dont even really care about the tree. I like rivers for fishing, And I seem to develope an attachment to my favorite fishing spots; I dont want anyone near there to do anything to it.
As for cutting a tree down for firewood, sorry, but I fail to see what is wrong with that. Nothing wrong with heating yourself and saving the money of buying it. People have been cutting down their own trees for firewood for a LONG time.
<Long Post>
Anthony, the initial post in this thread implied that the tree had been cut on US Forest Service land. That is not private property. I get the impression that none of the large trees being mourned, for lack of a better word, was owned by the people who cut them.
For centuries, if not millennia, people cut smaller trees for heating their hearths. Larger trees were felled for firewood only to fuel industrial processes, and often then illegally. It is easier to cut, move, and cure wood of smaller size. Furthermore, small wood can be grown even more quickly using silvicultural techniques such as coppicing. Coppicing cuts younger trees close to the ground, using species that produce vigorous sprouts. The trees grow for a number of years and are then cut. The trees send up new sprouts from the stumps. The roots continue to grow too. As more and more of these cycles are repeated, the amount of root for each tree becomes quite large in relation to the amount of surface growth being sustained and the trees can grow very fast indeed. I saw a "drought killed" redbud that was 15 feet tall cut one year. The church that cut it didn't get around to digging out the stump "in time" and by next fall, there was a 15 foot tall sprout about an inch in diameter. It grew into a lovely tree, the same tree. It was just new growth on old roots.
Coppicing is still practiced around the world to produce firewood, even in the U.S. and U.K. Where this sort of sustained practice is not followed, it is still practical to cut smaller wood for one's fireplace. Where trees have been planted for timber, they are usually planted close together and often need to be thinned. The thinned trees can be used for firewood. The slash (tops and other waste from logging) can be used. Slash is sometimes available for free. Using slash for firewood also clears the ground for reproduction of the next generation of trees more quickly than leaving it to rot. It also prevents the slash from harboring tree pests. (Down here the Southern Pine Bark Beetle is a forest pest that can reach epic proportions. The is a wood of standing, but quite dead, Loblolly Pines killed in the last outbreak, about a mile from where I am sitting.)
It becomes a matter of wisdom and best use of resources. We can use wood for fuel that is much too small to be sawn into boards. It make good sense to be wise with our use of resources and save our large, old, and relatively rare trees for better uses. Those uses include leaving in place and enjoying the beauty that they provide.
People are upset over the rash, thoughtless waste of precious resources and the sad lack of respect that these actions show, not the idea of cutting one's own trees to heat homes, sell, or use in some other way.
warm regards,
Ed
I am a forester and timber buyer for a logging company in NW Wisconsin and it absolutely disgusts me when I hear of things like this...it is these people who give logging a bad name.
McQueen
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