log it, burn it and pave it. The lumber industry pays most of my wages. I do recycle and try to minimise my impact but I'm not an enviromentalist.
I go back and forth. I mean, I get pissed when I see someone throw paper in the trash bin right next to the recycling bin. Same with aluminum and other recyclables. I recycle as much as I can at home and reuse whatever I can. But I wouldn't consider myself a treehugger or extreme environmentalist. The fact that driving to a hybrid meetup burned more gasoline than staying at home doesn't give me nightmares.
You forgot my category: "Cheap miser who sits in the dark and counts his nickels." I was raised as a "classic" Conservative, which means I ... conserve. That means I don't waste money. A lot of folks may find this hard to believe, but Environmentalists and Misers have a lot in common. I won't chain myself to a tree or hug a seal (Saw one at a zoo once, they're stinky) but I also won't waste them or throw them away, I simply refuse to give a "business" person (Con artist) easy profit at my expense. And I'm still not sure what the NeoConservative movement is about. I'm pretty sure "conservative" doesn't belong in their title.
Though I've not Googled the definition, I would consider a tree hugger to be a person who expends a majority of their time & energy in preserving earth's natural resources, whether it be seeking ways to utilize earth-friendly consumables and ensure their re-use or return to the earth, or seek and attend rally's dedicated to preserving species (plant & animal) that are threatened by man's motivations. ...and eating granola too! Though I don't go through such great lengths, I ensure that recycling is a top priority in our household, conserving energy as much as humanly possible (within my budget), creating and maintaining 1 1/2 acres of lush tropical gardens, mulching every bit of yard trash, composting, supporting the City's Tree Committee, etc..... Though driving 2 hybrid cars helps, it's not good enough to me and we will go EV when these vehicles are mass produced and affordable. my .02
Might vote would be for "kinda", but I voted no. I, too, am a "classic" conservative (was that a comma splice?). I definitely consider myself an environmentalist as well, primarily as a necessary condition for the continued improvement of humanity (I'm also a humanist). I recycle. I pick-up recyclable stuff that I see lying around. Hell, I'll take it out of the garbage if I see it in there (as long as it's not TOO nasty). I don't think that I'm a tree-hugger though. My political leanings and outlook don't really fit that mold. BTW, the neoconservative could probably more aptly be termed neofacist. It's a benign facism (at least for now) but it's still facism.
Did you see The Simpsons episode Lisa the Treehugger? It's a humorous look being a treehugger. The site mentions this: In 1997, a 1000-year-old redwood tree in Homboldt County, California, was slated to be hewn by Pacific Lumber, a logging company owned by Texas-based Maxxam Corporation. On December 10 of that year, 25-year-old Julia "Butterfly" Hill of Fayetteville, Ark., a member of the environmental activist movement Earth First! and also co-founder of the Circle of Life Foundation, volunteered to climb 180 feet up into the tree, which she named Luna. Tree sitting is a common tactic used by Earth First! participants and other anti-logging activists, but few could have expected the astonishing resilience that Hill displayed. Living on a platform constructed 180 feet off the ground, and communicating with the outside world through a cell phone and walkie-talkie, Hill endured threats from Pacific Lumber, which used floodlights and airhorns in attempts to extract her from the tree, as well as reportedly sending the police to disrupt Hill's associates on the ground, who supplied her with water and food. Nevertheless, Hill claimed that she promised the tree its survival, and in December 1999, just over two years after Butterfly first ascended Luna, Pacific Lumber agreed to spare the historic redwood and a 20-foot buffer zone. Since leaving the tree, Julia Hill has published a coffee-table book, The Legacy of Luna, with all profits benefiting her Circle of Life Foundation, and continues to speak out for the security of the redwoods. Hill's two- year-long-plus tree sit is listed by the Guinness Book as the longest such feat in U.S. history. It's very easy to dismiss "Butterfly" as a treehugging kook -- she claimed that she communicated with Luna through the Universal Spirit -- but it's difficult to deny that her personal courage is staggering.
I voted no, though I do agree with most of what a tree-hugger would stand for. And most people just assume that I am (see picture below made by a friend). Mostly I do what I can with what I have for the good of the environemnt. I do try to stay within the bounds of normal human behavior (possibly excepting the EV stuff!) "Environmentalist" has such an amazingly negative connotation now, that it boggles my mind. [Broken External Image]:http://www.darelldd.com/ev/images/misc/fun/treehugger.jpg
Tree Hugger? yes, and proud of it. Just today, I got my pack of tree sapplings in the mail from Arbor Day Foundation! yeah--can't wait to plant them in ground. I love Spring--it's a great time of year for tree huggers like me.
look at the 0 key on your numeric pad and then realize that our climax forest is infested with a little beetle that size. And it has killed 40-50% of all the trees in the non coastal forest of the whole province. Last time I heard a quote it was 340,000 hectars about the size of the state of Missouri and Arkansas combined. Hug a tree, long past that point. The last big clear cut to try and harvest some value from that dying forest the shuttle astronauts could see the clear cut from space. The only other cure is not very nice. Fire, that is mother natures way of controlling the Mountain Pine beetle. Burn that many trees would create a brown cloud that would circle the earth.
I'm buying as many low lying forested as I can afford! Keeping the logging tree theives away is my biggest concern!
A "tree hugger"- I don't think so. But, I do love my nearly 2 acres of Ponderosa pine trees. I also love my woodburning stove when it's heating my home. Isn't it wonderful that trees are a renewable energy source, unlike oil?
I agree. The beetles (not the Beatles) have wrought havoc here in CO too. The dead and dying should be logged and used for some beneficial purpose. Preferably biomass to energy or the like. That amount of wood could be used to produce a LOT of energy.
It has and is being logged here in Oregon, and not in the manner that would be beneficial to the logging industry or the people who live here. Burn it? Fix the roads we have, we don't need more. Ever wonder why the fishing industry (Salmon in particular) is hurting so bad on the west coast? logging practices, among other things.. I am NOT the church going kind, but ever hear "reap what your sow"?