Okay, I'll jump in...

Our ancestors around the world have been utilizing the resources around them to survive for thousands of years.

There's no reason to exploit them, but they are there to be used. Not used up, but used.

I read an interesting article from a very left-leaning, more liberal newpaper a couple of years ago. The article stated that since we have been protecting our forests (rightfully so) and clamping down on commercial logging, timber companies have had to turn elsewhere to obtain wood: outside of the U.S.

This in turn has driven the price of wood products up (along with the current war effort and housing growth) and stripped other lands in other countries of their own resources.

We also have a problem with our forests being choked with underbrush and other fuels, creating a huge fire danger. Some of this can be alleviated by thinning of certain areas. The money being spent each year on firefighting resources is phenomenal. Not to mention the recent rise in California and elsewhere of building homes in the wildland areas, only to have them burn down in years to come.

Responsible use and responsible stewardship is the name of the game. If I owned land and wanted to cut down some trees for a building site, or for a lean-to, quite frankly, it's no one's business but my own.

And in a way, cutting dead limbs that are low-hanging is doing a favor to the tree; you are removing the "ladder fuels" that allow forest fires to sweep up and into the tree.

Just my .02 <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />