Keeping Trees, Racing Into Forests

TWENTY YEARS AGO, when I bought about half an acre and put up a small, modest, ranch style house, the yard looked like a construction site, which it was, like the surface of the moon, which it nearly was. Rocks and crab grass. I nearly gave up hope, and moved out before I moved in. I stayed, threw down some grass seed, and planted about twenty saplings, oak, maple, among others. Also, along a fence at the property's edge, I allowed about twenty more volunteer trees to remain and thrive. The grass, starved for sunlight and water by greedy trees, has never done well. The trees have. Now I live in a de facto forest. In the summer, I get so much shade that I often don't need air conditioning in hot weather. The roooms are dark in the summer, but the house faces south, and in winter, with the leaves on the ground, the sun shines pleasantly into my humble abode, warming it pleasantly. I don't need much artificial heat either. I love trees, wanted it this way, and, also I thought I might be helping to save the planet. I still think I am. "Tree Keepers: The Race For A Forested Future", a new book by Lauren Oakes, not only has an appropriately named author, but a good one, and is a salient, seminal overview of an essential human activity: the reforesting of the planet. Oakes is a conservation scientist and writer at Stanford whose monograph discusses current efforts and projects around the world, from the cold north to the tropical jungles, to increase the number of trees in the world by at least one trillion, by replenishing dwindling existing forests and starting new ones. It tunrs out that there is a growing trend globally to engage in this ultra healty activity. The goal, of course, is to reverse or mitigate climate change by giving nature a chance to suck the carbon out of the atmosphere and store it in the ground, replacing it with pure oxygen, which trees do, to a "T". Estimates are that at the dawn of neolithic civilization approximately seven trillion tress lived on Earth; that number has been cut in half by yours truly, and the senseless tree slaughter continues apace, for ths usual capitalistic reasons. It is estimated that the number of trees left decreases by about ten billion per year. Trees, like animals, insects, and humans, are threatened with extinction; unless we the people change course. Lauren Oakes, an optimist, insists that we are indeed changing course, and that it does and will make a difference. On the flip side, scientists tell us that we simply cannot tree grow our way out of our desperate situation, that even if we planted one tree per square foot of land on Earth, climate change will not be mitigated or stopped mearly by adding trees. All the other well known measures, limiting human population and economic growth, switching to sustainable,renewable energy sources, will remain necessary. But there is reason for optimism. Some corporations are pledging to plant one tree for every sale they make. One tree per car, investment portfolio, refrigerator, or whatever. Governments are taking part. Saharan African countries are engaging in massive tree planting operations. It might be possible, through desalination, tree planting, and water pipelines, to irrigate our way from mass- ive deserts to lush forests. Difficult as it is to imagine the arid American west and the Sahara as lush forests, it is not an impossibility... My yard looks more like a dense forest every year, as the trees grow, and the fallen leaves and branches pile up. It takes work to keep it under control. I do the yardwork, and keep it from looking too wild. But, despite my tree surfeit, I am thinking about planting more trees in nooks and crannies. Future owners of my house are likely to take out many of my beautiful trees, and live a more normal life. But by then, maybe it won't matter, one way or the other. I will have tried to save the planet, and maybe, just maybe, I did.