A conversation on the farm today saddened me by its careless talk in regards to the created world. It was a land-deal-forestry-only-as-a-commodity discussion. In the words of Wendell Berry a “cut and run” kind of economy. One person suggested that trees grow (yes) and that we’ll always need toilet paper. Sigh. Land being considered only in terms of buying it, stripping it of (timber) value, and then selling it off to someone else is a poor example of stewardship. No dwelling or abiding. No farming. No local forestry community is being supported. Absentee landlords/investors who sell the timber out of the county or state: “The economy of this kind of forestry is apt to be as deplorable as its ecology” Wendell Berry
And the men who lean on pickup trucks and talk so carelessly. They are good men. yes, they are. Perhaps it is a case of not seeing the forest or the trees.