Watched a 2005 Oregon PBS special about forest management last night. Link here. Saw some old guys with lots of land and trees managing it with intelligence. They don’t clear-cut. They have a clue about genetics so they save the best trees and sell the others. Made me think: Damn that looks like fun, rewarding work!
Especially the bits involving data collection. One guy kept detailed logs and found that his trees put on mass much faster later in life, but most loggers harvest before that point. I’d love to pay attention and keep those kinds of numbers. The data loving techie in me is thinking: GPS for each tree, monitoring CO2 and other levels around my property. Of course, I wouldn’t want the financial pressure of that being my only source of income. Luckily I’ve been a telecommuting programmer for years … been fortunate.
The downside is that I like living in the city. Love the density, the energy, the white noise, the grocery store 1.5 blocks away, the access to varied restaurants and lattes, the ability to walk for hours and see new parts of town. And of course, I don’t enjoy driving.
Something to think about.