My Life According to Trees

Personal Experience as an Argument for the Conservation of Forestland

Why is it that people feel so strongly about nature? Why do people chain themselves to trees? Why do people say that they feel connections to the environment? One word can answer all three of these questions and many more: experience. When all present and future motivations, such as everything from the health benefits and aesthetics of nature to political power and money, are torn away, one thing remains: past experiences. A beginning must exist for this connection to nature, and a person who has never seen a tree before is probably not going to chain him or herself to one in order to save it from destruction. Human relationships are the same way. A man marries a woman because they have spent time together on dates and enjoyed it. These dates can be categorized as experiences. In the same way, a man or woman who spent his or her childhood playing in a forest and climbing trees is far more likely to feel a connection to the forest than someone who grew up in a city with hardly any trees. In my case, I look back at my family’s tree farm and all the experiences I had there as a child and young adult up until this point in my life, and I feel a growing opposition toward irresponsible deforestation all over this country and world.

In the 1930s, my family bought a house, a barn, and over a hundred acres of forestland in Huntington County, Pennsylvania. Over the years, they worked to keep the land conserved and free of invasive plants and insects. In the 1970s and 1980s, my grandfather became very involved in the land’s upkeep and even planted new sections of forest to vivify some of the fields on the land. His involvement continued to grow until he became the owner, and then in the late 1990s, he founded the Eden Hill Conservancy. The goal of this organization, mostly made up of my aunts and uncles now, is to conserve the area and educate others, such as students in nearby schools, about the history of the tree farm and give general information about forest conservation. While the Conservancy becomes more influential in the area every year, it remains an important staple in both my family’s history and future.

Not only has the Eden Hill Conservancy and my family’s tree farm influenced the community where it is located, but it has also influenced me personally and the way I feel towards forests. Especially when I was younger and when my grandfather was still living, my extended family would regularly get together at the tree farm, whether a special event was occurring or not. Some of the times I remember visiting the farm are birthdays, anniversaries, a wedding reception or two, graduation parties, or just if the family felt like they missed having everyone together. Every time we got together, we always managed to find time to take a walk through the trees on the farm. My favorite part of the land will always be a section of pine trees that my grandfather named Rachel’s Forest. He called it this because he was in the middle of planting the trees when he and my grandmother had their last daughter, my Aunt Rachel. To this day, it remains the most mystical and beautiful plot of land that I have ever had the pleasure of seeing and walking through. As one approaches Rachel’s Forest, the variety of trees dwindles until nothing but pine trees protrude from the flat ground. As one stands amongst the trees, it is impossible not to sense the eeriness of the scene. It reminds me of a forest that could only exist in a fantasy novel. In fact, if a slight mist was added to the site, one might even be inclined to expect to see a unicorn trotting around. For only such a fantastic creature could be found in such a mystical and mysterious place. That section of the land was not the only thing that affected me, however. Going back to my early childhood, I remember playing in and around the barn and through the forest. One of my favorite things to do was to play on a tire swing hanging from a large tree right beside the house. Another fond memory of the farm is all the walks the family took together through the forest. The times spent learning about the woods from my relatives, mainly my grandfather, have given me an infinitely greater appreciation for the land. These experiences on the tree farm have made me realize the great affinity I possess for forestland.

In turn, this affinity for forestland in general, not just my family’s tree farm, has instilled in me a feeling that could be described as disgust for the amount of irresponsible deforestation and clear cutting of woods that occurs in this country every year. I understand that timber is needed and logging is a business, but I also understand that responsible ways exist to gather these resources. People who do not practice responsible methods of logging are the people who disappoint me. I am all for keeping the forest untouched and preserving virgin forests, but the least thing that people in the logging business can do is log responsibly so that the trees they take are replaced for future generations.

When these methods are practiced, everyone benefits. For the loggers, practicing forest management in a responsible way that sustains forests just makes sense economically. If they clear cut a forest or even if they just take the best trees out of a forest, what are they really doing? They are destroying the resource that allows them to stay in business. What if they replace that forest or those trees, though? Then they are replacing their resource. In doing this, loggers are able ensure that they will always have the resource that provides them with their revenue. When this happens it also benefits everyone who is in some way affected by the state of the forest. If loggers act responsibly, then these members of the community are able to continue to enjoy the forest because no true loss of nature occurs. New trees will spring up that will help keep the atmosphere healthy and keep the landscape aesthetically pleasing.

I am certain that my dissatisfaction for the irresponsible behavior of loggers all over the United States and the world comes from my experiences of visiting and learning about my family’s tree farm. I grew up around a place that was appreciated and cared for by the people who owned it, and that had a lasting effect on me. I saw how simple and rewarding it was for people to take care of the land and came to expect the same from everyone who could have an effect on forests in particular. My experiences at my family’s tree farm and the effect I see that the Eden Hill Conservancy has creates a connection with forestland that leads me to care about its conservation and upkeep.

Reaching the Top

Everybody wants to be a winner. What makes people different is what they want to win and how they go about winning it. Winning really covers every end of the spectrum. Some people play the lottery to win money. Others give to the poor to win a clean conscience or, if they are religious, to win the approval of a higher being. It may seem contradictory, but to some people winning means being selfless. In May 2009, I experienced winning by helping someone else reach the top of a mountain. This experience took a lot of hard work, but looking back, I realized how great the rewards are that come from helping people achieve goals that require a great amount of effort from everyone involved.

The first part of this journey taught me the simple reward of approaching a challenge with other people. The day we took the hike was perfect, not too hot and not too cold. Everyone in my immediate family was home because of my two brothers’ birthdays on April 29 and May 1. This was rare because my eldest brother lives in Harrisburg with my sister-in-law. Since we saw that the day was going to be so beautiful, we decided that we would take a hike. Despite having lived in that area for almost fifteen years, my family had never hiked this particular trail that led up to a flag pole on the crest of a nearby mountain. We had heard beforehand from some friends that it was one of the more strenuous trails, not so much because of its length but because of its steep incline. The six of us, my older and younger brothers, my two older sisters, and my sister-in-law, decided to hike it anyway. We drove to the parking lot that was about a hundred yards from the start of the trail. Before we even began to hike, we had to cross a very unstable, wooden bridge that crossed a creek between the small parking lot and the base of the mountain. On this particular day, we would be the only ones on the trail. When we got over to the base of the mountain, we saw that the trail did not look steep at all for quite a way up. In fact, it looked like it was going to be an easy walk through the forest. As we hiked, though, we found the trail to be deceiving. The farther we went, the steeper it got. The terrain became more and more rugged. We went from walking on moss and grass to dirt and rocks. It was no longer an easy walk; it was an uphill battle. Around this time is when we started having trouble. One of my sisters is, well, not exactly Bear Grylls and was rapidly becoming exhausted. In fact, the situation got to the point where she repeatedly told us to go on without her, and she would see us at the bottom. She should have known better; Rileys never leave anyone behind. With a bit of forceful encouragement, a few pushes, and a few pulls, we all carried on towards the summit together. It was, as opposed to an ordinary day, quite dramatic.

This part of the hike was hard work. It was frustrating for everyone and tested my patience. However, it turned out to be essential to our journey. In any area of life, in order to achieve victory, a person must have something to conquer. If a person wants to win the lottery, he or she has to beat the odds. If a person wants to do some good for the impoverished, he or she has to overcome greed. Something will always be standing in the way, and it does not necessarily have to be an enemy or something evil. That day on the side of the mountain, the thing that stood in our way was the side of the mountain. We no longer admired the beauty of the oak and maple trees. Instead, the trees loomed over us, and the sound of the wind became the sound of scornful laughter. The scent of spring flowers and fresh leaves was replaced by the overbearing aroma of the sweat that poured from each of our bodies. Each foot of ground was harder to cover than the last. Everything in nature that day was reduced to a battlefield. It is not like we were in conflict with the rocky trail per se; it was just a seemingly simple matter of getting to the top, and to do that we had to climb the trail. From this segment of our journey, I learned that things can get hard when you try to get what you want due to that opposing force. More importantly, I learned the benefits of both having people there to help and helping others.

The second part of our journey showed me the even greater reward of the joy that comes from seeing the fruits of hard labor. We continued to trek up the mountain side trail which had become more like a set of steep stairs made of rock and dirt. In order to get through this section of the mountain, we would have one person climb a stair and pull my sister up while someone else pushed from behind. Needless to say, she was not enjoying the hike during this time. Eventually, though, we came within sight of our goal, an American flag flying from a flag pole. One of the most relieving feelings came over the group. The ground began to flatten about ten yards away, the rocks disappeared, and as we walked the last few yards to the ending point, we knew what it meant. We won. We knew we could do anything together. Essentially, we just carried each other up the side of a mountain. I know at least I felt empowered, like I had just accomplished a seemingly impossible feat. We wrote our names in a book that was in a mail box next to the flagpole then sat down to rest for awhile, basking in the great triumph we had just experienced together.

Looking back, I am glad my sister had trouble getting up to the top. It meant that much more when we reached the summit together. I realized that the harder I work for something, the more gratifying the sensation will be when the victory is won, especially if the victory is for more than just me. It does so much more than give me a feeling of happiness, though; it acts as a source of joy. It is like the difference between winning the lottery and giving to the poor. Sure, at the moment a person wins the lottery he or she feels happy, but how long will that last. Money has a tendency to disappear, and the person will not be so happy anymore once the money is eventually gone. Not to mention all the drama that comes with large amounts of money. On the other hand, if a person gives to the poor, no one can take that away. The person may not even be happy about it at first, but he or she will eventually see the satisfaction it brings. Happiness is a feeling, and feelings change with the weather. A source of joy is something that can always be turned to in the face of distress. That is the ultimate reward I received from my family’s hike. I now have something that no one can take away, something that I can look to and say, “Look at the joy I received from working that hard. I beat the challenge I faced then, and I can beat the one I face now.”