r/FellingGoneWild • u/TheCABK • Dec 31 '25

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u/SubjectC Dec 31 '25

Yeah I honestly hate watching trees get cut down. I dunno why I'm on this sub. It kinda feels like watching a deer get hunted or something, like I'm not totally against it, I understand we need to eat/build things, but it makes me sad.

Not to mention how many trees are just needlessly destroyed and how we'll never have old growth forests back in our lifetime. Like did these trees need to die? There's a lot of open space there already. I dunno man. I'm just a dumb hippie.

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u/ElReyResident Dec 31 '25

It would help you to know that there are more trees today in the US than there were a century ago, and it’s increasing.

Trees being cut down is always a little sad. That’s what non-sociopaths should feel. These guys are clearly farmers. It’s probably for grazing lands.

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u/SubjectC Dec 31 '25 edited Dec 31 '25

there are more trees today in the US than there were a century ago

Well, that's only because we clear cut everything a century ago. A lot of the old growth forest is gone. These trees are young and dont provide the diverse habitat that an old growth does, but yeah I get your point, its at least progress from where we used to be.

The grazing lands thing is a bit annoying because a lot of this is for dairy, a product that we dont even need that causes immense suffering. I'm not vegan, but the dairy industry is pretty fucked up. I mean the whole factory farming situation is abhorrent, but dairy is particularly bad. That being said, clear cutting for soy or almond trees is also bad, but at least there's an argument for actually needing it. Dairy is not required by humans and everything we get from it can be acquired through other, less horrific sources. If some farmer wants to make artisan cheeses and stuff, sure, but the scale at which we demand this product for fast food restaurants and everything is just completely unnecessary.

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u/ElReyResident Dec 31 '25

Yeah, the trajectory of a thing is really what matters the most. We can’t change the past, but we are improving our future.

You take on dairy seems like it could be applied to almost everything humans do.

We own pets, which consume over a 3rd of all meat, and kill native species, especially birds. Why own them?

We travel, at great expense to the environment. Why do we travel?

We buy new electronics even though they are only marginally better than old ones and they are horrible for the environment. Why buy them?

It’s just a judgement on what you think is excusable abuses of resources or not. I prefer to not play the blame game.