There’s talk in the Hollows these days about the Forest Service’s plans for the Green Mountain National Forest.

What you have is two completely opposing viewpoints. The majority (about 70% in the heavily forested town of Hancock according to one recent survey), take the position that our forests are working forests. In fact, upon becoming aware of the current Wilderness designated areas, some proposed to reduce or eliminate these zones entirely! Those who have observed the land for 40 or more years understand the forest’s rejuvenating power. What was once a farmer’s field is now a mixed hardwood forest. Nobody knew the land had this ability, back when Joseph Battel bought up half of Ripton,VT for a song. The mountains had been clearcut, and were a piss poor investment for farming. Today, many see trees as grass—only bigger and slower growing. You harvest and weed every 14 years, and it just keeps coming, kinda like a fertile hay field.

On the opposite side of the fence are the tree hugging, granola sucking, Birkenstock wearing flatlander refugee hippie transplants, who freak out every time someone wants to cut down a tree. They want to expand the officially designated Wilderness Areas of the National Forest. A Wilderness Area means no roads, no logging, no ATVs. Just forest and critters. This pisses the hell off of the local boys who see it as out of staters and over educated freaky types limiting their rights to Public Lands.

However the tree huggers may know something the rednecks don’t.

You see, they chose to come here, refugees from a strange and dehumanizing way of life.

Ladies and gentlemen: the creep of civilization is very real. (That is why we have Act 250—to slow the creep). All things being normal, (meaning less people stressing the resources and a lot less greed), we probably wouldn’t need things like Wilderness Areas and Act 250. It is a sad testament to our civilization that we do.

Everybody wants trees—and shopping! Shopping and trees. The question is: How much shopping, and how much trees? Where do you place the balance? Just a few hours South of us is a whole world that cherishes shopping over trees. This may prove to be the most dangerous and frivolous viewpoint ever adopted by any human society, and might ultimately lead to our collective demise.

Those tree-hugging refugee flatlander transplants deeply understand the preciousness of our “under-utilized” landscape. Trees and shopping—where to draw the line....

Hollow people tend to have a “Buck stops here” attitude. We like living in our semi-tamed countryside. Anyone who doesn’t is welcome to relocate to more suitable climes. We don’t like people telling us what to do, and figure we have enough damn sense to muddle through without doing too much damage. Unfortunately, the rest of the world, and especially those who make a living in “development” and extractive industries, may be operating on a different aesthetic than the rest of us.

It all comes down to zoning.

We got this big green and blue ball we live on, and we are all in it together. All of the people and the plants and the animals. And we all, all of us, live here, and we need each other to maintain the balance of the world. Using the zoning perspective, we need areas of industrial development, commercial and residential zones, and recreational and working forest areas. AND we need Wilderness Areas—large areas that are roadless and wild. Areas for the rest of the species we share this planet with, and with whom our own existence is inexplicable woven.

Almost nobody wants to see Vermont turn into a replica of eastern New Jersey or Long Island. Hell, those folks need us to be here, just to remind them what it means to live a life in tune with the earth and seasons. To use one’s own manual labor to heat our homes and feed our bellies. Vermont is a way of life, and it needs protecting.

Trees and shopping...and zoning. Where do we, we as a State, and as the people currently living on this land, choose to draw the line?

Let ‘em know what you think about the Forest Service plan. I think we have enough forest to leave some for the exclusive use of the critters.

These essays were written for entertainment purposes only. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Vermont Soap, its employees, board of directors, our Web host, Web designer, the neighbors who live up the road; or any of the thousands of people who use our stuff. Originally published in edited form by Comic News. Many thanks to Seasoned Books, without which, life in the Holler may never have become a reality.