> point being, does anybody have any pangs of guilt over their use of
> old growth trees for their boats? I know I do.

Quote:

"Buy certified or salvaged lumber and used furniture. Shift to earth architecture such as rammed earth, straw bale, and adobe. Use less paper. Buy products with minimal packaging. Buy tree-free paper products such as kenaf, cotton, cereal straw, and agricultural waste."

JOHN STERLING, Patagonia Environmental Programs

And presumably paddle a plastic kayak as well. Whoops, that's another environmental issue!

I'm not entirely sure what such well-meaning authors as Mr. Sterling want. I use a gas stove in the woods (can't burn trees), I pack out every piece of garbage, I bury my poop far off the trail (can't get my head around packing THAT out), I ride a bicycle and drive a fuel efficient vehicle. I am enraged by clear-cutting especially when it's clear cutting for pulp and paper (we get a lot of that in Ontario). Unlike Mr. Sterling, I think silviculture is a GOOD idea. It beats the hell out of the cut and run practices of the past. (I've camped in planted forests, though, and I must admit it's a little weird, having evenly spaced trees all the same kind and height around you.)

Do I feel guilty about building something beautiful of wood, with my own hands? I think it's a better use of any wood (how do you tell if it's old growth when it's standing in the rack at the lumber store?) than being made into government forms, rock concert tickets, books on improving your sales/sex/management/etc. technique, or a thousand other useless things.

If you don't mind me getting a little metaphysical for a moment, I think that the works of our hands that we have seen on these pages and others, do honour to the trees that were cut down so the boats could be made. No, I don't feel any pangs, Todd. Get a little metaphysical.

Roger (Thanks for your patience)

ps. MacMillan-Bloedel (I think I've got the name right), the big lumber company in B.C. has just announced that it will cease clear-cutting in favour of more environmentally friendly ways of managing lumber. This is a result of people like Mr. Sterling and their efforts. Lumber companies don't have "Road to Damascus" conversions to environmentally sound practices. They've been hurt where it hurts them.