[at-l] Wood stoves: a threat to the trail?

[RoksnRoots@aol.com (RoksnRoots@aol.com)]

In a message dated 2/24/02 9:45:27 PM, dfaddleton@mindspring.com writes:

<< The last time I read about the eastern seaboard forests, we have more land

covered with forest today than we had in 1776.

 >>


    ***   If you checked out the details of that factoid you would find that 
land clearing for pasture, farms, and construction materials denuded vast 
regions back then. Also, heating wood is no longer extracted due to oil etc 
etc. The prairie wasn't woods, so food production farmland didn't occupy 
forest land when things shifted west.

     A comparison from today would see those same farms filled in by sprawl 
bordered by national forests and parks. The growth occurring on tract 
development lots combined with regrown forests probably accounts for this 
misleading technicality...

    Don't worry, developers are busy working on evening the score there. 
Brazil and the west coast forests would be a more accurate example...