Obama to take over ABC June 24th to discuss.....

You were twisting my balls. It makes me yell.

 

I do not hug the trees. But I treasure the trees and I will shoot you with my shotgun if you cut down old growth forests. We have plenty of managed forests and the last old growth needs to be saved. And more cut-over land need to be replanted to reduce carbon dioxide.

I do not hug the trees, they aren't the embracing type. But I own 120 acres of them. I bought cut-over forest land and planted 132,000 pine seedlings, I nurtured them until they were healthy adults, I care for them and protect them from fire and insects. I clear away the scrub brush that competes with them. I provide fine animal habitat for the friendly local hayseeds to hunt and they put venison in my freezer. From time to time I select innocent trees that that conduct unauthorized gatherings and I execute them and chop them into tiny bits so that you can read your newspaper without losing old-growth pine in Oregon.

I do not hug the trees. Indeed, some day in my retirement, I will ruthlessly execute all of the trees and slice them up into lumber so that you can have a deck without killing 2,000 year old redwoods. I'll make a cool half-million on it, have improved the atmosphere for all mankind, created green jobs for local foresters, timbermen, and mill operators, saved the boreal forests for future generations, and kept a piece of the earth wild for the magnificent and tasty wild creatures. It will probably get me laid, too. Women are a green bunch.

Then, I will plant 132,000 seedlings.

I recycle regularly, now that it is an easy one-bin process and they are actually profiting on the recycled material. Grow dope in my house? I've got too much to lose for that nonsense.

Dude, I own a forest . . .

 

My forester disagrees. If I was in my 20's I'd be rotating cuts 40 acres at a time, indefinitely. But it takes 30 years to grow trees and I got a late start. I'll replant, take the reforestation tax credit and sell the pine plantation to martin, who'll have another 30 years left.

I'll be in my 70's, amigo. I have no heirs to leave an inheritance to, so I plan to cash in, spend the money on what I need or want, write my last check for my last dollar to the undertaker . . . and that check will bounce. :grin:

 

You have to know your local operators and have a good contract. I only deal with cutting crews that I know and have a reputation for doing good work. I only permit cutting when the season is dry and I have a no-rut contract. If they come in there and make a huge mess, they are obligated to remediate it at their expense. My land is most pine hills with little bottomland and I don't have an erosion or surface water protection problem.

Clear cutting and replanting seedlings is the only way to really make a decent profit. Selective thinnings are done from time to time to keep closely spaced trees from competing with each other, but I don't make much cash on this because labor is intensive. They actually harm the topsoil worse from all of the backing and turning and making lanes through the standing trees versus systematically clear cutting a stand.

I would cut it in 40 acres stands and stagger the cut if I was a younger man. Alternatively, I could just sell the standing timber and the land for a premium and let the next owner manage it. Mature growth pine land commands a top price.