Chainsaw Massacre

I am not talking about the massacre that has been going on in my back yard. Why is it that nowadays when we trim trees on the sides of little old forest roads, the kind that don’t get plowed in the winter, we have to clear cut umpteen million yards on each side of the road? Same goes for utility related “pruning”. Sorry, but these guys have gone chainsaw happy. We went on a little foray into the Scenic Trails by Houghton Lake over the weekend, little seasonal roads into the wilderness. They do not get plowed in the winter and are mainly used by snowmobilers during the heaviest of snow periods. I haven’t really been in there a whole lot for a number of years and, when I did happen to get in there, I was always trying to figure out why I didn’t recognize certain landmarks and what was different. Well, duh, it is because on a large section of the trails, they have clear cut about a gazillion trees on either side of the road. The beautiful canopy of trees that used to form a tunnel over the road is gone. It’s state land. I don’t know when they did the clear cutting. I don’t know who did the clear cutting. I don’t know why they did the clear cutting or who decided it was a good idea. Why on earth did they cut so many trees down? I don’t have enough steam today to write a really good rant but, bottom line? We need as many trees as we can get. Quit cuttin’ ’em all down!!! It’s a scenic trail, fer kee-reist! It needs trees!

There is a little slide show but most of the pictures are not related to the tree massacre. They are just early spring in northern Michigan pics. And it is still pretty early in the spring in the Great White North. Not *so* much here on the Planet Ann Arbor. We’re greening up pretty quick here. BEWARE!!! The UU and I found the remains of an aminal and pics 16-18 are of that. It is not gory, just fur and a couple of dried bones. One of the reasons I posted the pics is because we couldn’t figure out what it was, so I’m wondering if anyone else has an idea. It was relatively big and we speculated dog or coyote or even wolf. But just so you know what’s out there. Click here or on Hawky to see the slide show. That was the best pic I could get of Hawky before he flew away (with an unknown victim in his talons). I ain’t never gonna be a good wildlife photographer. I don’t have the patience or the equipment. Deal.

4 Responses to “Chainsaw Massacre”

  1. Maquis Says:

    I’m thinking that you have never been without power for a week? Scary thought come winter.

  2. Jay Says:

    We watched a DOR become a skeleton during our noon walks last year. It was interesting to watch the maggots and other critters move the fur around. One of those – kind of gross, but circle of life at the same time.

  3. kayak woman Says:

    Well, I wasn’t really talking about trimming around urban power lines, believe me, we have some tough decisions to make about our personal trees right now. The one that recently bounced off our roof took down power lines. Apparently it was quite a mess.

    The clear-cutting that I was complaining about happened in a state forest. It is not populated beyond a couple of hunting “cabins” and is inaccessible to steet vee-hickles in the winter. No power lines to fell.

  4. Webmomster Says:

    Yeah, that’s one of those Political Decisions that I take offense at, allowing “harvesting of trees” on state-owned/national-owned forest property. I thought the State/National Park system was created to PROTECT the forests, not allow the gov’t to “harvest” at their pleasure….