The Trees Are All Gone

Listen while you read:  https://youtu.be/GRKHTXCoJOk

The glaciers near the polar cap have all begin to melt
Temperatures are on the rise far from the southern belt

Water levels shifting tides on every changing land
Rain forests in the Amazon have vanished from our hand

And the trees are all gone
Yeah, you know it's all wrong
And the trees are all gone

The people want to eat today, and so they clear the land
Global warming is a concept they can't understand

But all the politicians now, they have no excuse
They just hide behind their power and keep us from the truth

Man has tried his suicide with bigotry and hate
But in the end he'll kill himself with nothing but his waste

What will finally happen when the farm lands turn to dust?
When only rich receive the food and nothing's left for us?

And the trees are all gone
Yeah, you know it's all wrong
And the trees are all gone

~  Roger McGuinn

It's so exhausting. Every day, a new assault on the environment. Yesterday's news informed us that a signed executive order asks that the Department of the Interior review all national monument designations of 100,000 acres or more since January of 1996 to determine if they can be altered or nullified. One such monument on the list is the Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument in Utah. I've been there. It's beautiful. To imagine it developed into shopping malls or factories or anything just goes against any respect for the landscape of America. Also on the list is Giant Sequoia National Monument in California which includes 34 groves of those ancient trees. I have not been there, but I have seen sequoias in Yosemite and I have been in several Redwood groves. My belief is that no one should exit this life without having walked through a grove of these giants. To do so is one of the most peaceful and mind-altering experiences one could ever have.

Roger McGuinn (whom you remember from The Byrds) wrote this song a quarter of a century ago. It appears on Back From Rio. I think the lyrics speak for themselves. What more is there to say? We are watching the destruction of the environment unfold before us every single day. To what end? So the rich can become richer? Is that all there is?

I'm sorry, I'm too exhausted to say anything else. Wait. Oh, yeah . . .

Happy Arbor Day.

Jedediah Smith Redwood Forest CA 2008