Earth Day is upon us, and with it, several “green” events, including the broadcasting of “Walden: The Ballad of Thoreau” on public television and in schools. This is surprising at a time when government involvement in the environment is all the rage. Henry David Thoreau, who wrote that “government is best which governs not at all,” is probably writhing in his grave.
Instead of keeping environmental management at the local level where it is most efficient, we are moving toward more centralization.
[blockquote]Instead of keeping environmental management at the local level where it is most efficient, we are moving toward more centralization.[/blockquote]
Ms. Huggins is probably too polite to conclude the obvious in public: That a very large part of the “green” movement has goals that have nothing to do with the environment. Ever hear of “watermelons?”
the reason TR set aside land for national parks was because people were hunting wildlife to extinction and raping the land for blood money. as far as i can see nothing much has changed in the attitudes of state ‘management’ programs. for example, mountain top mining in west va. the silt runs into the streams and poisons water and consequently kills wildlife and degrades water quality for the people who live below for decades. buffalo in the midwest was hunted nearly to extinction at the turn of the previous century. what we got ain’t perfect but it is better than leaving it to political money grubbing cronies in corporate america who make backroom deals with state politicians. TR rocked as far as i am concerned, he was a trust buster and a true naturalist. i don’t appreciate this right winger dissing my favourite pres! i never read thoreau but i suspect she is piecemealing the quotes.
There is a movement in Florida to have the State buy up as much endangered lands as possible now that the real estate prices have gone so low. The problem is, of course, that the State has a few billions cut from the budget so there is no money with which to buy that land.
I cleared some pasture of brush and ash, wild cherry (insect infested) and wild cedar trees today. It involved a lot of chain saw work. The real work is in the ‘limbing of the trees’ and then either chipping the trees for mulch or burning them in bonfires when the weather conditions are suitable.
I will use the cedar tree trunks for fence posts for the pasture lots in which I intend to raise shaggy Scottish highland and Irish Kerry cattle.
The grass growing in the pasture should compensate somewhat for the carbon dioxide produced by the cattle. In any case, I am doing this in the manner of my ancestors who have raised cattle for many generations.
My ancestors would have been surprised if they had been told that they should have been planting trees rather than reclaiming over grown pasture land.
Um, Ms Higgins may not be as familar with Thoreau as she thinks. Surely Ms Higgins would be upset if 300 million Americans took to the forests and began chopping down trees for a cabin and firewood.
Then, there were the regular daily visits by Thoreau’s friends, wearing down paths along the pond and increasing erosion. The soiling of the area with fecal material from the lack of a sewage system. I doubt many of the visitors were of the pack it in/pack it our philosophy. Lots of trash disposed of in them there woods.
Then there’s the release of all that carbon from wood fires as there was no hydroelectric system at the time.
Think Thoreau. Yeh.