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[<eureka AT hctc.net>]

The problem here is nobody--not even the government--is 
telling them not to clear everything. In fact, as far as I 
can tell the extension agents and soil conservation 
districts are the ones actually encouraging this, and 
there are financial incentives for land owners to do so. I 
don't understand why these agencies don't see the impact 
this has on erosion and water quality. The only agency I 
know that is very concerned is the river authority and 
their hands are tied, as the majority of their funding is 
for cleaning up messes rather than educating and 
pre-empting them.

My neighbor and I have had many good conversations about 
ecology over the years, and I do so admire his ability as 
an alternative builder to think outside the box, so I was 
(as you recall) extremely floored when he cleared the land 
around us, including bull dozing the creeks, destroying a 
lot more than just our privacy. Although he bounces a lot 
of ideas off us about future projects, he did not once ask 
what we thought of this idea before he began, and 
continued the destruction well after we let him know our 
thoughts and gave him oak wilt information. As an 
afterthough he asked me what kind of grass he should plant 
along the denuded creek, and I gave him some native 
suggestions, and begged him not to use invasive KR. He 
swears he did not plant KR, but it is suddenly all over 
our property and his. It's heavily promoted by the 
aforementioned agencies.

He recently asked my husband if we have forgiven yet, and 
my husband said no. We all remain friends. But I will not 
hesitate to sue him if his erosion causes my land to 
erode, or if my oaks contract oak wilt from his mistakes. 
And I have never been a litigious person.

--Sage

On Wed, 5 Nov 2008 08:26:59 -0800 (PST)
 bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com> wrote:
> I forgot to add in my first reply.  Where I grew up , 
> most of the country people would have listened to you and 
> followed much of your instructions, IF :  You didn't tell 
> them the gov't was making them do it.  And, you did not 
> condescend to them  (and having a southern accent would 
> be helpful) :-) ....bobford
>
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> --- On Wed, 11/5/08, eureka AT hctc.net <eureka AT hctc.net> 
> wrote:
>
> > From: eureka AT hctc.net <eureka AT hctc.net>
> > Subject: Re: [Homestead] Beetle Invasion in N.E.
> > To: bobford79 AT yahoo.com, homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 9:06 AM
> > We have Oak Wilt, carried by a beetle dangerously close 
> > to
> > us, about 15 minutes away. It is also often spread 
> > through
> > firewood, some idiot cutting down an oak that's died
> > from it and selling the wood, or using the same chain 
> > saw
> > afterwards without cleaing it. If you've visited my blog
> > you understand the size of our oaks and concern around 
> > here.
> >
> > Another thing the article brings up is the loss of 
> > property
> > values in the area where the destruction, and 
> > preventative
> > destruction is taking place. One thing I am big on as a
> > botanist is encouraging people to have trees of all 
> > ages,
> > including babies and teenagers, so to speak since 
> > landscapes
> > are dynamic. This helps in maintaining property value. I 
> > am
> > so often amazed that people's landscapes include only
> > the mature (because everything else has been cleared 
> > away,
> > such as my neighbor's place) or in new subdivision built
> > on scraped ground, young trees of the same relative age
> > brought in for landscaping. Diversity isn't just limited
> > to species, but should involve life stages as well.
> >
> > Maybe those of you managing woodlots have an 
> > understanding
> > of this, but in Texas very few do. Large ranches go to 
> > great
> > lengths to take out what they see as undesirable 
> > underbrush
> > through controlled burns. I understand they want grass 
> > and
> > have little need of firewood, but they don't even
> > protect their riparian areas. We make sure on our 
> > property
> > we have trees of all ages.
> >
> > --Sage
> >
> > On Wed, 5 Nov 2008 05:15:53 -0800 (PST)
> >  bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com> wrote:
> > >> From this am Wash Post.  This sounds like a
> > significant pestilence in Susan Jane's neck of the woods
> > ....bobf
> > > 
> > > 
> > >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > 
> > > 
> > > Authorities Hope Beetle Invasion Can Be Ground to a
> > Halt
> > >  Crystal Franciosi, a U.S. Department of Agriculture
> > tree climber, records her findings after checking for 
> > Asian
> > longhorned beetles in Worcester, Mass. (Stephan Savoia - 
> > AP)
> >
> > > 
> > > WORCESTER, Mass. -- A wood-devouring beetle has gained
> > a foothold in New England, and authorities plan to cut 
> > down
> > large numbers of infested trees and grind them up to 
> > stop
> > the pest from spreading to the region's celebrated
> > forests and ravaging the timber, tourism and maple-syrup
> > industries
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > >
> > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/04/AR2008110403574.html?hpid=sec-nation
> > > 
> > > 
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>
>
>      
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