Pittsboro Matters expert lists some of the many values of trees. Read and take them seriously.

Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2014 11:59:09 -0400 (EDT)
From: mphorn22
Subject: Re Cryptic

Cryptic (is that another made-up name from someone who just wants to badmouth?) carries bad logic.
(1) Bad logic #1.  Cutting down large old trees in order to avoid forest fires is illogical…and came from GWBush.  If you hold a lit match to an old tree or even a log from it, it will not catch fire.  But hold that match to pine needles or a dead baby tree, and it WILL catch fire.
(2) Bad logic #2.  Many vegans live decades without ever consuming meat nor getting the kind of strange illnesses Cryptic named.  It’s because they know how to combine foods to create proteins, and many also take supplements to assure B12, etc.
(3) Bad logic # 3.  Here are some of the many values of trees.  Read and take them seriously.

• Trees are the lungs of the planet because they generate the oxygen needed by all humans and animals to survive more than a few minutes.  (Oceans and other waters do the same; unfortunately, most are polluted and dying.)
• Trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide, thus cleansing the air of that element so toxic to us. Our air pollution is due in part to that as well as to the decreasing number of trees available to cleanse the air of all toxins.  There are not enough left to do the job we need.
• Trees shade and cool us in the summer.  Note: cities are significantly hotter than rural areas; the latter have significantly more trees than cities do.
• Evergreens help to keep us warmer in the cold months.
• Trees protect us against winter winds.
• Trees disperse strong winds.  (West Virginia is a prime example.  There were no tornados there until an east-west interstate was built through it.  Residents say that now tornados follow that interstate, where there are no trees.)  Thick and prevalent forests protect us from hurricanes a lot better than areas with much fewer trees.
• Trees provide shade and protection for other plants, including ones that help to heal us.
• Trees’ roots, along with the roots of smaller plants beneath their canopy, aerate the soil so that excess surface water is absorbed into the earth, therefore guarding against flooding.
• Trees’ roots pull up water from the depths of the planet, so that other trees and plants with shorter root systems can have water to grow.
• Trees send moisture into the air, evaporated, so that we can have rainfall and replenished water supply. Without trees, many other plants would die, resulting in massive droughts.
• Trees prevent soil erosion……due to the three reasons stated directly above.
• Trees, especially in forested wilderness, provide shelter for birds and other animals whose excretions fertilize the soil thus making it richer for growing plants.
• Trees replenish our soil when leaves and dead wood are allowed to rot into the earth.  A forestry expert once told me that an untidy forest is actually a healthy one because of its ability to replenish the soil.  He said that a tidy, so-called “cleaned up,” forest is actually a sick one, a dying one, because the soil isn’t adequately replenished.  By their supportive existence, trees allow other plants to turn stone into soil as well.
• Trees sequester carbon within them.  When they are cut down, that carbon is released into the air, thus compounding the CO2 toxic problem in our atmosphere.
• Trees hold the earth’s crust onto the surface of the planet.

Seriously,
Maryphyllis