Adjusted for inflation in 2008 average gas price hit $5.20 per gallon in the US.
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Ok. How about this? Gas prices go up, and then they go down, and then they go up, and then they go down.
Maybe we should have a daily gas price update by region. Just kidding! Seriously, gas prices are ever changing. Do we really need a topic to discuss this ad nauseum? Does it address a car issue or problem?
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No, but it gives some people the opportunity to gripe about something that is not under their control, and that–ultimately–is survivable for them.
I wonder if we will soon have a Get off my lawn! thread.
Problem is we’re cutting them down faster than they grow.
Let’s talk about oil change frequency!
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O… M… G!
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I added frequency after I saw how it looked. Before your reaction even.
I think that may depend what part of the country you in around here it is heavily wooded and by seeing all the log trucks running the highways 5 and 6 days a week to feed the paper mills you would think we would soon e a dessert but the forestry dept. says the trees are growing 25 % faster than they are being cut.
From what I’ve read, we are actually more forested than we were a century ago. Of course, a century ago we were whacking down everything and replanting nothing. Urban development, clearing for agriculture use, etc lead to deforestation in addition to just timber harvesting.
Kinda strange- I cut 4 large, very straight pine saw logs in my yard last year and couldn’t give those logs away.
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After the tornado in '18, had quite a bit of cedar and pine bucked logs. Luckily found a guy that supplies fire wood for the camp grounds and took all the logs off my hands. Still had to haul the limbs away though. The stuff that is collected at the local compost site is either just burned or ground up for chips.
I think it depends on the part of the country (or, the world… ) where someone lives.
In my state, except for parks and preserved wilderness areas–all of which were established w/in the last 100 years or so–a lot of the original forested areas were cut down during the post-WW II (and later) housing booms. It could be different in your area.
And, the reduction in forested areas has led to another problem, namely the population explosion of the deer. They prefer to feed in areas that are not forested, so the removal of the forests has led, over the years, to larger and larger deer populations and–inevitably–to an increase in car/deer collisions. The ideal location in a deer’s mind is an open field with a wooded area nearby to which they can retreat in case of danger.
I have read in several sources that the deer population in The US is the largest that it has ever been. A friend of mine lives in a condo development, and when he came home from work a few nights ago, 4 deer were lounging on the lawn in front of his townhouse, just watching the cars go by. He said that they didn’t seem to be disturbed by his presence.
Yeah those deer like corn fields. I especially hate driving at night when the corn is tall and those fellas jump right out at you without warning. They also like woods and creeks and brush.
Trees grow pretty fast though. I’ve planted over 40 of them in the past 25 years and I’m having a heck of a time trimming and cutting down the overgrowth. True hardwoods grow slowly and hard to find old growth lumber, but man take a drive sometime and see miles and miles and miles of forest far as you can see. There are plain areas where trees don’t grow so well.
that is not really true.
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From the article I read, they were talking about the world in general. Local areas will vary for sure.
The deer population- seems like somehow we could make use of that. Maybe start a “feed the hungry deer meat” campaign if times got really bad. I would be ok volunteering to shoot them. As long as I don’t have to dress them. I suppose deer populations will vary by region also.
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According to the folks at The Smithsonian, it is true:
Deer are also thriving because of the ways people have carved up the countryside, unwittingly creating prime deer habitat. Deer, says McShea, are an “edge species,” meaning they thrive where forests meet fields. They seek shelter in forests, but most forest food is too high for them to reach. Edges abound in plants deer can munch. “Originally, the eastern United States was one deep, dark forest,” McShea says. “Now it’s deer nirvana. It’s one big edge.”
In some parts of highly suburbanized New Jersey, up to 60 deer live in a square mile, according to the state’s Division of Fish and Wildlife, compared with just 5 to 10 deer per square mile before the land was settled by Europeans.
I think you’re both somewhat correct. The “edge effect” creates diversity- good open areas to forage along with cover (and food also) in the forest.
One thing to think about though, I guess the only food available in the winter would be in the forest. Acorns, and what not. Kind of amazing they can survive.
According to what I learned in some of the wildlife classes at school, back when we had numerous small farm fields (as opposed to the large commercial farm fields we have in a lot of areas now), that was actually ideal. More edges for the edge species. Large scale farming (and fire ants) is supposedly to blame for the reduction of quale in the southeast.
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I’m in N. Michigan. I see many deer per week and here at least, @Scrapyard-John has it right. Deer take cover in the woods, forage in the open and stare you down on the road.
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That’s done around here. There is a man that skins and butchers deer for hunters that prefer not to. He also accepts donations that he butchers and delivers to homeless kitchens. He has a lot of work in the colder months when road kill deer stay fresh longer. The local and state police know to call ahead and bring it to him.
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… as did I…
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