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to Save Our Forests Issue by Jacqueline Marcus |
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Bush overturns
2001 ruling protecting 60 million acres of national forests. The
Bush administration opened up almost 60 million acres of national forest to logging,
mining and other development yesterday, in an unprecedented move that will likely destroy
a significant portion of the nation’s dwindling old-growth forests. Nature
is my religion.—P.B.
Shelley I. The Demise of the Industrial Age Unfortunately,
these are the very sort of people who wield control through family wealth, power and
inheritance. There is a sense that the
Bush family arrogantly believes the White House belongs to them. Which is to say – the people’s White
House is now the Corporate House, and there’s nothing “white” about it: the
timber industry, the mining and coal industry, the oil industry have their tentacles
around the media and every level of government to the extent that they are now determining
our elections. But
with all their power, control and wealth, there are signs of desperation: they are
greedily clinging to a vanishing world of finite energy sources: The old 19th
century industrial paradigm is dwindling, dying and soon it will be dead. Old fossils like Dick Cheney and the Bush family
will only be remembered, in the course of history, for their selfishness and greed, as
being the last of the industrial polluters. Indeed, future generations will ask with utter
disgust why these ignorant men were allowed to commit such heinous crimes against nature
and humanity. A
New Dawn is coming. And that new dawn is being
ushered in by II. Sacred
Forests It
is worth remembering Sir James Grazer’s classic book, The Golden Bough, to learn how our European
ancestors lived before the mass machinery of the industrial age emerged. Communities were guarded by trees, surrounded by
forests. They worshipped trees as living
beings or souls. They could not possibly conceive a life separate from forests any more
than we could conceive our lives without sunlight or water.
They revered trees and whenever they had to cut a tree down for their needs,
they would gather around the tree and ask for its forgiveness with solemn gratitude. It’s
written in the Golden Bough, Trees as Embodiments of the Life-Spirit: “From
the earliest time the worship of trees played an important part in the religious life of
European peoples…north of In
From
an examination of the Teutonic words for “temple” Grimm has made it probable
that amongst the Germans the oldest sanctuaries were natural woods… Sacred
groves were common among the ancient Germans, and tree-worship is hardly extinct amongst
the descendants…The Dyaks ascribe souls to trees, and do not dare to cut down an old
tree…If trees are animate, they are necessarily sensitive.” (The Magic of Kings” Golden Bough;
pages 106-09) Yes,
we are dependent on natural resources for material needs, but we should practice the moral
principle, “Give back what you take,” as a way of preserving and maintaining our
beautiful forests. When I was in high school,
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was assigned
in our biology class. I was shocked to learn
that my college students haven't even heard of Rachel Carson! It’s important to teach our children that
nature and Her inhabitants: all animals, birds, whales, dolphins and trees should be
respected. If they can't express their defense for living in our oral languages,
that doesn't mean that their lives are less real or significant. Certainly Mr. Bush
realizes that his dog's life is valuable. Is he capable of extending the same love
he holds for his pets to animals who are on the endangered species list? No.
In fact, he's not even capable of empathizing with the thousands of Iraqi children who've
been maimed or killed from his corporate invasion of Iraq. Thus we can't expect him
to empathize with endangered animals much less trees.
There
is no rational or even economic explanation for clear-cutting old growth forests. As I’ve mentioned earlier, we are moving
towards a new paradigm shift of renewable sources. Construction
engineers are turning to stronger and more reliable materials instead of lumber. Wood rots and it also attracts termites. Right now,
the timber industry is in a slump—they can’t even sell the piles of logs sitting
in their lumber yards as it is! So why cut
down these magnificent, century-year-old trees? Could
it be that Bush despises If
we apply the “give back what you take” principle to the logging industry,
loggers could do selective cutting, leaving old growth trees for the support system, and
then replenish the forest with new seedlings. That
way, the loggers, the trees, and the environmentalists all win. III. Plant
Trees for the Holidays Every
winter, we buy a live Redwood tree and then plant it.
We’ve been buying Redwoods for the last seven years and fortunately we
have the land to plant them. It’s
wonderful to see our little Redwood Grove prospering happily on our ranch. It
seems absurd that in the name of Jesus Christ, millions of beautiful pine trees are cut,
decorated for two weeks, and then discarded on the streets like garbage. It seems absurd to slaughter millions of pigs, cows
and turkeys in the name of Christ. Knowing the
Scriptures, I don’t think Jesus would have any part of this mass slaughtering of
trees and animals. He was a simple Rabbi who
devoted his life to peace. Scholars also
believe, by historical references, that Jesus was a vegetarian. Our
ancient ancestors understood that trees are alive in every sense of the meaning of that
word. They worshipped them. They celebrated their divinity. Tree seedlings are like toddlers. You can see how the older trees watch over the baby
trees, helping them to grow in a protective way.
Imagine
if George Bush had been raised with an appreciation of nature. Imagine if he had been raised by Rachel Carson. It would be quite impossible for him to act and
behave as selfishly and foolishly as he does. I
blame his parents for passing on the same ignorant beliefs, from generation to generation. Despite
George W. Bush’s unprecedented decision to repeal an executive act, I believe that
both Republican and Democratic voters will not allow the timber and mining industries to
clear-cut their national forests. We will rise
up, in every state, and oppose the few because we all know that our national forests
belong to the people and not to a few greedy CEOs and shareholders. If Bush wants to cut down every single living tree
on his ranch, that’s his problem. But he
has no right to interfere with state rights and laws, to leave nothing for your children
and their children. In
this issue, we are publishing a symposium of poets who’ve paid homage to our
beautiful forests. Some poets, like Rolf
Jacobsen, praise the beauty of a singular tree, while others address the tragedy of
clear-cutting entire forests. Warning:
some of these stories are painful to read, like Judy Hoffman's "Tribute to a Friend
Who Died Fighting." I’ve also included (below) links to environmental
organizations that are working hard to stop this administration’s ruthless machine of
raping and raiding everything good and beautiful in its tracks. This
is ForPoetry’s Homage to our Forests. We are also celebrating the demise of the old
Industrial Age and welcoming the Environmental Age of Enlightenment. I
want to thank my good friend and contributing editor for this special issue, Ken Pobo, and
many thanks to my poetry pal, Fred Moramarco, and to the poets who’ve contributed
their poems for this Homage to our Forests symposium. —Jacqueline Marcus, Editor Click here to read "A Prayer for the Trees" and "Invisible Pines" by Jacqueline Marcus
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