When we purchased our Barnardsville-area property years ago, we chose it primarily because it backed up to national forest lands. We felt this ensured that the land would be protected for our family and for future generations. Why are we now considering creating roads to slice through the forest so that logging trucks can cut down trees and destroy the habitat of plants and animals that have no voice?
In developing countries like Costa Rica, they are replanting their forests because they have seen the value of ecotourism and that it benefits many people . . . not just a few. Here in Barnardsville, or Big Ivy as it is also called, Navitat ziplines exist because people are willing to pay to see unbroken expanses of forest that they no longer have where they live.
The forest is a living organism. It is a unity that works in harmony to create clean water, abundant oxygen, uplifting natural beauty, healing herbs and mushrooms, and a home for songbirds and wildlife. I attended the meeting at the community center in Barnardsville and was given some hope that this truly IS our forest and that we have a say in what happens to it. So I ask: Why is it that those who want to cut our timber for profit cannot see the FOREST for the trees?
We are all strands in the web of life. We must preserve what remains of our natural environment everywhere, including the forest where stands of old-growth timber and rare plant and animal habitat still flourish in the Big Ivy area.
— Reva Spawn
Barnardsville
“Why are we now considering creating roads to slice through the forest so that logging trucks can cut down trees and destroy the habitat of plants and animals that have no voice?”
Here’s a clue: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$