Well, I don't see that the two camps are mutually exclusive. Perhaps what's missing, what can connect us, and what has already been mentioned more or less, is the thoughtful use of the resource. I'll admit wholeheartedly that what we did as kids was downright wrong. It did result in damage to several big trees, and had anyone else besides us ventured into those woods and done some looking, they'd have found our handiwork. Our problem: we were cut loose and left to our own means and methods of learning, and for a young bunch of boys, that meant taking things apart, doing various destructive tests, the kind of things curious and wild boys will do to things. What makes matters worse is my dad worked for Weyerhauser and knew an awful lot about the forest, and chose not to share any more about what he knew than to send me to the woodpile for cordage. Nor was anyone else around that might have known willing to teach us anything about woodlore or conservation or any of that, at least not until high school.

I would advocate taking the time as adults to learn about conservation, and good forest practices, and all those sorts of things that add to the general enjoyment of the outdoors, then taking the kids out into it, teaching them what you know, counseling them about what is ethical, and repeating the process often. Likely it will go a long way toward better stewardship of both public and private lands, will get kids off their butts and doing something interesting, and make better citizens in general.

So far as I know, it isn't something they teach vigorously in elementary schools, and maybe it should be more. Neither is it something I see a lot of parents getting involved in.

I don't think there's any smugness in respecting the natural world. Respect being a subjective thing, it falls then to each our own experience and wisdom as to how we go about it. There are laws and regulations a plenty that prescribe the limits of our respect, or lack of it, so I reckon as long as we are all working within those agreed upon limitations, we can maintain our diverse views and even exercise good discussions that will be of some benefit to us all.

Jungle seems to me to be rainforests in tropical locations, for I've never heard of temperate rainforests referred to as such. In all the times I went there, I would never have thought to call the Hoh river valley a jungle. But I'm not using Webster's version here, just my own experience. There might some places here in Florida I could call jungle, but swamp still seems more appropriate.