permaculture

["Andrew French" <alienbuddha@gmail.com>]

I think Trees are an amazing organism, probably one of the most amazing
examples of life on the planet. Old Growth forests and giant Redwoods leave
me awed and close to tears. Trees are essential to our lives. So is krill
and fungus and bacteria and worms. But I don't see anything "wrong" in using
selectively cut trees to heat a small space, like a home. If your heater is
efficient, you don't need that much wood, even in a cold climate like
northern Minnesota where I'm from, maybe a cord or two. There is a lot of
dead wood out there, some of it is essential to the ecosystem, but some can
be used to warm us in the cold weather. Aren't we apart of the ecosystem?

Honestly, it seems that urban folks can be overprotective about the
harvesting of small plots of trees. It's like in the movie, I Heart
Huckabees, where the main character is protecting that rock at the beginning
of the movie? Funny. I am urban but spend a lot of time in the rural areas.
There are a lot of trees that come down in storms, or underbrush that can be
cleared in a few acres of land. Every habitat is sacred, but so is human
habitat. I think that once you have  designed your Zone 0 to use passive
technologies, like mass and solar water, then wood is the next best energy
equation.