4/23/2022

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            The only article in today’s NYT with your name on it, says your domestic agenda is “embattled.” I hope you won’t let that get you down!

            I was excited to hear about the mature tree inventory that you authorized in the executive order that you signed yesterday. It would have been even better if you promised that any tree that was more than 100 years old would be protected, but maybe that’s your next step.

            Your order got me thinking about the age of the trees on our 60 acres in Dunbar, WI. Clear cut logging in that area stopped in 1910, so the oldest White Pines are between 110 & 150 years old. While we may have some old trees, we do not have an “old growth stand,” which the WI DNR defines as “at least 120 years old without experiencing a stand-replacing disturbance.” My dad enrolled in the WI “forest management plan” to save on taxes so 2023 will be our 3rd “disturbance.” The plan requires that we cut some trees every 10 years. I’m not convinced it’s worth it. Perhaps the whole plan should be nullified now that we have climate change to worry about. Should we be cutting down trees, when you just pledged to plant millions more of them?

            As I tried to learn about the life expectancy of a White Pine, I learned that there’s an old growth stand not too far from our cabin &, as luck would have it, my dearest friend just wrote an article about Lucy Rumsey Holt, the lady who is responsible for sparing those trees from the loggers.

My friend & I were just talking about Lucy yesterday. When that kind of synchronicity happens, I attribute it to a higher power, solidifying my intention to act on it. So, I have proposed a rendezvous in Cathedral Pines State Natural Area in Oconto County, WI for July 2022. Would you like to join us?

As usual, please pray for Myanmar & do what you can to restore democracy there.

BYBS,

RCA