It isn't as if somebody is clear-cutting vast swaths of pine trees and never replanting. It isn't as if somebody is cutting vast swaths of conifers to build a humongous parking lot.
What many people don't realize is that many trees are weeds. Not that they are useless plants, but they grow all by themselves without human aid. On our property in Brimson we have thousands of balsam, some ideal Christmas trees, most all jammed together. They sprout up in fields. They crowd out firewood trees. Just about everything but the long-gone white pine grows by itself. The only white pines we have we planted, and many of them have served as deer feed or buck-antler scratching posts. Ah! Kill a deer and save lots of trees.
When we first bought the property, we saw dozens of dying birch, a foot or more in diameter. All are gone except the rotting logs bound up in some really good fire-starter. Now twelve years later we have hundreds of birch. We only transplanted four from the power-line right of way. Many of these wild birch are now suitable for firewood.
Where balsam doesn't grow, the predominant trees are aspen. These live about 30-50 years and then come crashing down on other trees. Of course, trees rotting on the ground can spread disease to other trees. Next year we'll have a logger selectively cut some aspen for us. By doing so, we may see moose tracks once again. Moose love aspen shoots. Ah! Kill a moose and save lots of trees.
In addition to the above species, we have red maple, willow, black spruce, white spruce, tamarack, chokecherry, hazel, alder, and others all growing merrily without our help.
Sure, we cut paths through all these and use the cuttings for firewood or chip them for the paths. But guess who uses the paths the most? Wild animals! There are tracks of wolf, deer, bear, squirrel, rabbit, and mouse all over these trails.
Besides wild life habitat and our enjoyment, these trees have another important purpose – carbon sequestration. These trees probably soak up more carbon dioxide than we create driving to our cabin and back and more than we create with our heating fires.
