Preserving the American Wilderness

Warrigal

Warrigal

SF VIP
Location
Sydney, Australia
As an Australian travelling overseas in 1985 I was impressed by wilderness areas in the US and Canada and sad to learn that no such thing remained in the UK. All of the oak forests were sacrificed to build the great sailing ships around the time of Lord Nelson and before they began using coal, to stoke the furnaces that smelted iron from its ore.

I came home determined to support wilderness conservation because our unique fauna depends on it and also because I think that humans need these wild places too.

As this has been a hot topic lately, particularly concerning the rebellious ranchers supporting the Bundy family, I was surprised to find this report on a Chinese businessman who is prepared to invest in preservation of a tract of American wilderness.

China’s Richest Man Buys 28k Acres Of US Wilderness To Preserve It

Posted on 2016/01/9
Co-founder of online shopping giant, Alibaba, Jack Ma, has decided to invest $23 million of his own money in a huge chunk of land in the US Adirondack mountains, known as the Brandon Reserve. His long term plan: to retire to the region. His short term plan: stop the logging operations and preserve the country.

brandon-park-jack-ma.jpg


Ma is a well known conservationalist and currently the richest man in China. He is well known for inspiring masses of young people about the keys to successful business (he, himself, was rejected from Harvard 10 times) and supplies a constant reminder that failure can be a blessing.

Now, by purchasing the 28,000 acre property from the DuPont family, he is making a very tangible mark in the world of preservation. He plans to turn the entire region into a wildlife sanctuary and protect the plants and animals from logging and mining operations that would have otherwise infiltrated the region.

According to a spokesman for Ma, “protecting the environment in China will always be Jack’s first and foremost priority.”
Ma added that one of his long term goals is to “improve the environment that our children will inherit.”

http://truththeory.com/2016/01/09/chinas-richest-man-buys-28k-acres-of-us-wilderness-to-preserve-it/
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Does anyone know anything about this land or this deal?
 

Adirondack mountains are in north New York state between the lake Ontario on the west and the states of Vermont on the east. It certainly is a pretty area for sure. I have driven through that area but it was many years ago. Other than for a meal and gas I never stopped or stayed over.
 
I've heard about this purchase before, I'm for anyone who is interested in conservation and protection of the lands.
 

The Mojave Desert, situated in California, Arizona, and Nevada, is as inhospitable as any of it's counterparts, excepting maybe the Sahara. It mainly looks like this:

At higher elevations, the above being about 2500 feet, there may be found small trees. The scene above is about 10 miles west of Las Vegas. "Investing" in thousands of acres of property having the qualities seen, would be largely a fluke. Still, many thousands of such acres are being used to build large commercial-scale solar power plants. A shame to "ruin" the native habitat so extensively, but there exists adequate land that were it ALL solar-power producing, it likely could power up the entire Continent! The property Mr. Ma purchased appears to be heavily treed. imp

"It occupies less than 50,000 square miles, making it the smallest of the North American deserts.[SUP][5]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojave_Desert[/SUP]
 
There are certainly some really beautiful stretches of forestland in the U.S. and Canada...and every effort should be made to preserve as much of it as possible. Huge tracts were cleared for human habitat and farming over the past couple of hundred years, but fortunately we still have millions of acres of largely unspoiled land. There are lots of logging operations, for lumber for housing and furniture,etc., but most of the loggers replant the forests once they are cleared...and thus, they regrow for future generations.

We live on 40 acres of hardwood forest (oak, walnut, hickory, etc.), and living in the midst of these woods is really nice. I go through the forest and harvest the dead and downed trees for fuel for a big outdoor wood furnace, and virtually never have to cut down a live tree. The squirrels do a real good job of "replenishing" the forest with their buried acorns and walnuts, so I can see constant evidence of "new growth", everywhere. The birds scatter Cedar seeds all over the place, and there are new cedar trees growing all over the place. When I come across a recently dead cedar tree, I cut and plane some slabs to put in our closets...that cedar smell is great, and it keeps the insects out of the house.
 
Our place in MO had become inundated with soft maple seedlings growing from naturally spread seed, thousands of them. The wood is burnable, but far inferior to oak, or even walnut, which we burned extensively, also. It takes an amazingly large amount of firewood burned to keep a 100-year old farmhouse acceptably warm. Our usage was on the order of 20 cords a year (they called it out in "ricks', a rick being 1/2 cord). imp
 
imp said:
Our place in MO had become inundated with soft maple seedlings growing from naturally spread seed, thousands of them. The wood is burnable, but far inferior to oak, or even walnut, which we burned extensively, also. It takes an amazingly large amount of firewood burned to keep a 100-year old farmhouse acceptably warm. Our usage was on the order of 20 cords a year (they called it out in "ricks', a rick being 1/2 cord). imp
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I usually go through 8 or 9 cords a year. We had a unusually wet Spring, then a bad windstorm came through in late July, and literally pushed a couple dozen huge trees over. I've cut up about 4 or 5 of them, and will tackle the rest as weather permits. I have enough wood for this year, and all these downed trees will supply plenty for next year, and most of the following year. There's a dozen more dead, but still standing, so I leave them for "insurance" wood...I just go after the stuff that is on the ground, rather than just letting it rot.

All this physical work is the best Health Care plan I've found. A cord of oak will weigh almost 4,000 lbs., and I will handle every piece of wood about 6 times....from the forest, to the pile in the meadow, to the logsplitter, to another pile, to a pile behind the house, then finally to the wheelbarrow, and lastly to the furnace. That's around 35,000 lbs X 6, or over 200,000 lbs., in an average year. The tractor does most of the heavy lifting and hauling, but I still get plenty of good exercise in the bargain. Hopefully, I can continue this routine for several more years, before the old body begins to rebel....that will be the signal to sell out and move to Senior housing.
 
Don, your assessment of the wood cutting and gathering process strikes a memorable note, to be sure. Do you heat exclusively with wood as we did, or have you a back-up system of some kind? We had a big Timberline stove and installed our Elvira cookstove when we bought the place. House was big, blown-in insulation in exterior walls, you know how good that is! First winter, I had split all the wood using sledge hammer and wedges. Second, my shoulders were asking for mercy, so we bought a 27-ton splitter. As the years went by, I realized all old farts expire eventually, and given the respiratory difficulties experienced for a year, we began spending winters in AZ, in 2010, 11 years after moving to the Ozarks. By then, I was 68. 13 years buried in Mark Twain N.F. was a most amazing, enlightening sojourn. Life there was not easy, for most. Only logging provided any possible hope of decent income. Since we left for good, July, 2012, several natives we knew and liked have perished.

Lowell Wisdom, born there, died there. Rondell Wisdom, ditto. Matt Wood, a young man we really liked, crushed to death between two logging trucks, last year. imp
 
We have a total electric house...about 2400 sq.ft, over a full basement/garage. The first Winter, 2002, our monthly electric bills were in the $350-$400 range, so, with all this forest, I decided to jump into burning wood. I bought a Bryan outdoor furnace, a Brave 22 ton logsplitter, and a big Stihl chainsaw. All together, I put about $6000 into the hardware. Now, our monthly electric bills stay in the $150 range, and I keep the upstairs in the low 70's, the basement in the mid 60's, and the garage stays about 60. I figure I save about $1200 a year on the electric bill, so the initial $6k has saved me at least $15K...This is one of the few things I've bought that actually paid for itself...Plus.

Then, too, I get all the beneficial "side effects" of staying physically active, taking care of this place. I've trimmed off all the "city blubber", and only go to the doctor for the annual exams, an annual eye exam/new glasses, and a couple of dental visits. I think I feel better at age 73, than when I was 50. There is No substitute for good diet, plenty of exercise, and a clean environment....IMO.
 
Bee said:
Where vast swathes of land is concerned there is no comparison between England, Australia and the U.S, England is a much smaller country.

Conservation isn't just about protecting land, conservation also protects historic buildings, villages and small towns where they are of historic value.

https://www.historicengland.org.uk/advice/hpg/generalintro/
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National and historic treasures should be conserved because the whole world is enriched by their preservation. I really appreciate the way the older buildings of England have been looked after and are still being used. The age of some of the houses I stayed in when we visited in 1985 blew my mind away. I loved being able to visit prehistoric and Roman sites too and not just in England.

Here in Australia we don't have the luxury of thousands of years of preservable historic relics but we do have a rich and diverse unique flora and fauna. To conserve these we need more than zoos and nature reserves. We need very large areas to be set aside as wilderness but these areas are always under attack by commercial interests such as mining, logging and tourism. Supporting the wilderness is always a struggle against powerful and well funded lobby groups.
 

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