“On the Bosom of this Grave and Wasted Land I Will Lay My Head” by Janiesse Ray is a very powerful essay written about the clearcutting of forests in the American South. It was originally published in the Summer 2002 issue of Orion Magazine. Below are a few quotes from the article that illustrate the enormity of clear cutting in the south. However, it is reaction of the author, Janisse Ray, to what she has seen to her homeland that I found I reacted to most strongly.
“THE SOUTH HAS BECOME THE WOODLOT for our nation. From 1977 to 1997, harvests in the thirteen Southern states increased by fifty percent. Today, two-thirds of all wood harvested in the United States comes from the South.”
“Environmentalists blame the loss largely on “chip mills,” factories that grind whole logs into small wafers for making paper and chipboard (90 percent of the logs go into paper, 10 percent into chipboard). Chip mills have tripled in number in the past fifteen years; since 1987 over 100 have been built in the Southeast. The more than 155 chip mills currently in operation log an estimated 4.6 million acres of forests each year. In a year one chip mill can obliterate seven to ten thousand acres of trees.”
“Across the entire South, the U.S. Forest Service estimates that 36 percent of natural pine forest has been converted to tree farms, and that 70 percent will be converted by the year 2020. Such plantations may briefly sustain deer, squirrel, and common birds until the thickly planted trees shade out all groundcover. After that, they become ecological dead zones.”
To read the article go to On the Bosom of this Grave and Wasted Land I Will Lay My Head | Janisse Ray | Orion Magazine.
Natural History Wanderings 
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