Moore on Wood and Woodlands

In “Save the Forests, Not Each Tree” (Commentary, March 30), Patrick Moore uses loaded language in several instances, suggesting, “It is so trendy to be opposed to cutting trees.” Actually, the “trend” in all of Western civilization has been to decimate forests, if you care to gaze over the altered landscapes of the Mideast and the Mediterranean, as two examples.

We’ve been doing the same thing here, subsidizing big timber companies for over a century, as they seek to steal from the public what they’ve been unable to preserve on the vast holdings of private woodlands already in their domain.

They cannot preserve these private holdings precisely because trees cannot be grown like rows of crop corn, over and over again. And even when you can sprout young saplings, you notice Moore and his ilk focus on only the trees, failing to see the forest--all the other plants and inhabitants--that never come back, thus impoverishing us all.

MARK L. WILLIAMS

North Hollywood

* Moore describes himself as a founder of Greenpeace and as the founder of Green Spirit. He would like the readers to believe that he is a concerned and moderate environmentalist who feels the environmental movement is being unfair with those who are clear-cutting Canada’s ancient forests.

As a co-founder of Greenpeace myself, I have known Moore for 29 years. His history is well known to me. What he failed to mention is that he is paid by the British Columbian forest industry to lobby for and to speak for the industry.

Moore is known by his fellow co-founders and early directors of Greenpeace as an eco-Judas, for betraying the environmental movement in return for forest industry dollars.

PAUL WATSON, Founder

Sea Shepherd Conservation

Society, Venice