One of the activities I try every year is climbing trees—regardless of my “senior” status.  I’m often amused at the reactions I get when I’m spotted in a tree.  A few years ago I tried to get as far up as I could into a great climbing tree we had in our front yard: a sycamore.  The first response was from a robin that landed about three feet from my nose.  I’m not sure exactly what shock looks like in a robin, but from the loud squawk and feathers-flying retreat it made when it spotted me, I know it was shocked.  When Marge, my wife, pulled into the driveway from the store, I know she was surprised at being hailed from about 25 feet over her head.  Her response was a bit different.  Something like, “Get out of that tree, you old codger!  You’ll break your neck.”  (I think she actually used a bit more colloquial term for me.)

Well, the thing is—I love trees!  I have ever since I was old enough to climb one.  And you have to hug a tree to climb it; so, yes, you could call me a literal “tree hugger.”  Much of what I appreciate about trees was written in one of RBC’s booklets.  You’ll find it on this blogsite by clicking on the “Author Resources” page in the right-hand menu under “Discovery Series.”  While I highlight in the booklet many of the benefits of trees to the environmental health of the earth and to our own health, we didn’t have space for a number of those benefits.  Below is an enumeration of the things trees do for us.

Twenty Things Trees Do for Us

1.  Provide oxygen. Trees, in a sense, inhale sunlight and carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen.  They’re the “lungs” of the planet acting in counterpoint to living animals which inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. As consumers of carbon dioxide, trees are our first line of defense against global warming.  Not only do they turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, they also store up carbon in their wood, sometimes holding it for hundreds—even thousands of years.

2.  Moderate temperature. An abundance of trees reduces the extremes of heat and cold.

3.  Enhance rainfall. By transpiring moisture into the air and by cooling the air, trees increase rainfall.  For instance, the normally arid land of Jordan has increased its annual rainfall by 15% through reforestation in about 40 years. This transpiration is a vital part of the earth’s water cycle that makes our planet suitable for life.

4.  Collect and absorb dust and other atmospheric pollutants.

5.  Protect the earth from rapid climate change. This is the natural result of the previous vital ecological functions of trees.

6.  Produce and protect healthy soil. Decomposed leaves and wood make up a substantial part of the topsoil that all living things require for life and health.  Leaf litter insulates soil from temperature extremes. Roots aerate soil, add nitrogen to soil, bind soil, circulate water through the soil, and protect soil from erosion and thus enhance stream flow so vital for the life of aquatic creatures and plants.  Trees provide windbreaks to protect soil from wind erosion.  In mass, trees reduce flooding by holding soil and absorbing and collecting as much as 20 percent of rainfall.

7.  Provide food. Tree fruit provides much of the food and nutrients that humans require and provide most of the food for several other living species.

8.  Provide shelter and/or cover for most animals and birds.

9.  Provide protection for thousands of species of sun-sensitive plants.

10.  Provide healing products.  Many of our medicines or medicine components come from trees, as do other vital nutritional necessities.

11.  Provide building products. Nearly every home in America owes its structural integrity to wood.  Add to that the tree products and tree cavities that provide homes for birds, animals, and insects vital to life on earth.

12.  Provide paper products. Consider your quality of life without books, magazines, newspapers, cardboard boxes, match sticks, printer paper, maps, wrapping paper, and toilet paper!

13.  Provide wood for furniture and dozens of other household and workplace products.

14.  Provide fuel. Half of the earth’s population uses wood as fuel for heating and cooking.

15.  Provide “sensory candy.” Trees in their multiple shapes, colors, and landscape contours are among the most beautiful things that people can see.  Tree fragrances are among the most pleasant that people and animals can smell.  Tree flavors are among the most appreciated tastes of people around the globe.  Trees act as sound buffers and as sound producers (the sound of wind and rain in the trees being vital to the human sensory experience).

16.  Produce a sense of rootedness and community. Consider how many streets and community developments are named for trees.  Sadly, we find that people often name their streets and developments for the natural features they destroyed to build their communities.  Nonetheless, flying over America, we can see that our most cherished trees are the ones that line our streets, encircle our homes, and festoon our parks.  People who have grown up in the company of familiar trees understand how important they are the day the trees fall.

17.  Provide living fences that hold back drifting sand and snow

18.  Reduce light intensity from the sun.

19.  Provide privacy.

20. Protect watersheds for communities.

How To Care For Trees

1. Learn about the forests (in order to appreciate their role in our lives).
2. Remember the forest’s relationship to people as mutual creations of God.
3. Remind yourself regularly of your personal responsibility in creation stewardship.
4. Stay aware of forest policies and uses.
5. Recognize the forest’s vulnerability to needless consumption and abuse.
6. Become intimate with a few nearby trees or forests.
7. And climb one every chance you get!

You might also want to read my essay on “The Trouble With Trees” which is also found by going to “Pages” on the right-hand menu, then to “Articles.”  When you get there, scroll down to find the article.

See you outdoors!

Dean