Deforestation: Mankind’s Relentless Expansion

Christopher Rakel

AGRO 2011

Sect

Deforestation: Mankind’s Relentless Expansion

        There’s a war destroying and plaguing our world. I’m not speaking of war battled over religion by men for several hundred years.  I am speaking of another, greatly different kind of war.  This war is not for territorial expansion nor is it for political reasons. This war’s basis is much more simple than that, yet the ramifications that can potentially happen far outweigh anything the civilization we live in now has ever seen before.  I am speaking of the never-ending war between us, or mankind, and the environment of this world.  The battle goes on virtually unnoticed, across all of the land and beneath our oceans.  This is the ultimate battle of this era, as the stakes could not be higher, this is a conflict for the survival of the species.  And this is a conflict that has been lost by too many species throughout the life of our planet. It is the war between mankind and nature itself, as mankind continues their relentless expansion, blind with power and an overwhelming lack of compassion for other life forms on the planet. It is the conflict of deforestation.    

        Robinson Jeffers agreed that mankind’s relentless expansion has taken away from the beauty of nature.  In his poem, Carmel Point, he says, “This beautiful place defaced with a crop of suburban houses.. How beautiful when we first beheld it, unbroken field of poppy and lupin walled with clean cliffs; no intrusion but two or three horses pasturing (Jeffers 252).” Jeffers it seems is reminiscing about how beautiful nature was without the intrusion of humankind.  The environment should be considered an organism, which is slowly being deteriorated by a virus, also known as mankind, in many different aspects. Out of all these aspects, deforestation is the most destructive.

        The battle between humankind and their destructive ways to expand is very crucial to the decline in the environment. A great example of that type of battle is one currently raging in the Serengeti National Park. The Tanzanian government currently intends to create paved roads that run fifty km across the park. There are annual migrations of more than one and a half million animals in this region, which primarily consists of zebras and wildebeests.  These migrations are beautiful and majestic and could be considered a great wonder of the world. If the Tanzanian government paves this road, it would have devastating consequences on both the migration and the whole ecosystem itself.  These consequences could be detrimental to the balance of nature throughout the environment. Creating the road would bring increased yet unwanted traffic, which would in turn result in the massive increase in death to the herds of the migrations. Theodore Roosevelt would have wanted the Tanzanian people to think about what harm could be done to the environment if this road is constructed. He was a great advocate of conservationism and stated so in his letter to Frank Chapman. Roosevelt states, “..How immensely it would add to our forests if only wild pigeon and the Carolina paraquet has meant a loss as severe as if the Catskills or the Palisades were taken away”(Roosevelt 131). Because of Roosevelt’s belief of conservationism, he would be highly disappointed if he could see how the animal’s habitat in the Tanzanian environment is being thoughtlessly exterminated.

        William Douglas spoke of his dislike towards deforestation just for profit in My Wilderness. He says, “This is not a speculative matter. Clear-cutting in the Far West produces deep scars on slopes. A canyon of trees restful to the eyes is invariably supplanted by a canyon of rocks and debris…. Thousands of years will pass before vegetation can the hummus necessary for a new forest (Douglas 354).” Douglas is speaking of timber harvesting and how violent it actually is to the environment. People are literally killing thousands of trees, which are not only living, but supplying shelter for countless other living organisms. The environment is too important to destroy just for a profit. People need to be more aware of the preservation of this beautiful land.  Joni Mitchell also agreed in Big Yellow Taxi, by saying “They took all the trees away and put them in a tree museum and they charge the people a dollar and a half just to see ‘em (Mitchell 490).” Mitchell is saying that people are starting to forget about the natural side of life and all this urbanization is taking people away from nature. That people will ignore the environment in every aspect as long as they are turning a profit to do so. Stephanie Mills also spoke about mankind’s ability to blindly destroy the environment just for profit in her Valedictory Address at Mills College. She said, “This conspicuous lack of interest may be due to the fact that there is hardly anybody, save a few desperate individuals, lobbying to save the environment. And the absence of lobby may be due to the fact that pushing to save the environment will turn no one an instant profit. There is no material or political gain in the issue as of this moment (Mills 472).” J. Sterling Morton also spoke about his displeasure towards deforestation in Trees. He says, “Twenty-five thousand acres of woodland are consumed by the railroads, the manufactories, and the homes of the U.S. every twenty-four hours. How many are planted? To avert treelessness, to improve the climatic conditions, for the sanitation and embellishment of the environment” (Morton 128). Mills and Morton are speaking of the general lack of interest by politicians and anyone else with any sort of power to actively help our environment.   Saving the environment isn’t a hot issue to politicians, so just because it wont get them any more votes, they don't even attempt to address the issues towards the environment. This has been a problem in our country for decades.