Trees Cut at Pet Wall

[2eREP]

From whose sub-par mind emerged the idea to do some completely unnecessary tree clearing at the Pet Wall?

[MarkR]

I haven't seen the trees in question, but I'm always in the favour of clearing trees to maximize light and wind near crags. Our province is thick with trees and I've never been convinced climbers have a significant effect on them.

[smallman]

You do realize that the entire base of Pet wall was treed and logged once before, right. Or did you think the 15m to 20 m treeless zone adjacent to the wall was natural?

[slinky]

Although I haven't seen the clearing, I think this is probably a good thing. The second growth trees (post 1986 clear cutting) are getting bigger every year and crowding out several sections of the cliff. Don't kid yourself about your recreational activity having no impact as you step off the massive Douglas Fir stump onto the initial holds of Flingus Cling...

[AaronRN]

You do realize that the entire base of Pet wall was treed and logged once before, right. Or did you think the 15m to 20 m treeless zone adjacent to the wall was natural?

Lets not forget the entire Smoke bluffs have been logged twice and burnt once. With trees routinely logged from under the power lines from Bluffs and Murine Park. Tree removal is an essential part of maintaining climbing in Squamish. I only wish things got done on more of a routinely basis. This way we're not left with having to cut down and drag away larger trees that raise the eye brows of the uninformed masses who in all fairness probably come from climbing areas were tree removal is a bad idea (that being every climbing area everywhere, but Squamish)

For the record during the 2011 Squamish Mountain fest I was part of crag maintenance crew that cut dozens of trees down at the Pet Wall. Mind you all of these trees were not much larger then your average Christmas tree.

The trees in question probably only took 10-15 years to grow, and all of this would have been unnecessary if someone would have taken a pair of brushing snips to them 5 years ago.

[pbeckham]

"From whose sub-par mind emerged the idea to do some completely unnecessary tree clearing at the Pet Wall?"

Mine for one.
We thought it as necessary at the time.
The forest was right up against the cliff and you climbed through branches on the first couple routes established.
Back then, we were either loggers who climbed or climbers who logged depending on your view. We logged whole valleys from the rivers to the alpine, so the base of the Pet seemed like a light trim for an awesome crag. Apart from the fir I murdered at the base of the Cling, most of the trees we took down were scrub second growth hemlock and cedar. The big fir still laying at the base had already fallen.
Some feel that what we did was excessive and unnecessary. To each their own.
If I found the Pet today as we did back then, I'd do the same thing.
If we don't manage the vegetation at the base of the Pet, it will grow over in less than a lifetime. Trim it or lose it.

[mcfly]

Whose "sub-par mind" is openly complaining about tree removal at a climbing crag in Squamish?
Do you enjoy climbing wet routes covered in hemlock needles with clumps of muddy grass on the holds and a coating of slimy rock moss on the slabs?
Whithout continued vegetation management, many of our best crags would be lost to the trees, shrubs, herbs and mosses that thrive throughout this temperate rainforest we live in.

Get a clue skippy! This ain't Arizona.

[Optimally-Primed]

Dude with a subpar mind is a genius! I need to gets me one of them. Keep the Big Green Machine from advancing!

[jonny2vests]

Dear troll, the trees are winning don't you know.

[Peter]

I don't have a problem with the clearing of the trees. However, if they could be disposed of/moved instead of just lying in a pile right where they were chopped, that would be better.

[2eREP]

Whew, there’s enough venom in here to wither a city. I’ve not signed in since shortly after my initial posting, so excuse me if for not being able to pontificate earlier.

Curiously, everyone conveniently sidestepped one word in my thread: unnecessary. You have, however, heavily weighted another: Tree-clearing.

The Smoke Bluffs were…Logged!? As I live and breathe…
Routes buried under an impenetrable veil of moss and needles!! Merciful Lord, will no one save us?!
My head is spinning, spinning…something must be done…immediately! Where’s my Husqvarna?!

You guys are taking the piss, right?

Low standard deviation; consensus built entirely upon distortion of facts, and over exaggeration of issue; hostility and disproportionality.

The extent and significance of the threat, in this instance, is exaggerated in itself, and compared with other problems.

If I’m not very much mistaken, I do believe that I’ve inadvertently tapped into a taboo subject inducing a behavioral-herding moral panic.

For those unfamiliar with Moral Panics, they “…arise when a condition, episode, group, or individual, emerges to become defined as a threat to societal interests/order.”

So, as agents of moral indignation regarding the subject of tree clearing, perhaps there might be one self-aware person out there who can describe the social identity that has been challenged by this subject.

[Dru]

If I’m not very much mistaken, I do believe that I’ve inadvertently tapped into a taboo subject inducing a behavioral-herding moral panic.

Or it could just be that you are wrong. Did they talk about that in your sociology course?

[2eREP]

If I’m not very much mistaken, I do believe that I’ve inadvertently tapped into a taboo subject inducing a behavioral-herding moral panic.

Or it could just be that you are wrong. Did they talk about that in your sociology course?

That came out like a Type 7 on the Bristol Chart.

Did they talk about me being wrong in my Sociology course...

Hmmm, not quite the response I was anticipating. I'll wait for one of the other heavyweights to chime in, as I'm sure they'll soon be bristling in an impotent fury at this impropriety of mine.

They’re sure to throng to this thread in a rage after a day spent accessing cliffs via jungle creeper, and macheteing their way up Burning Down the Couch through dense tree boughs.

[staven]

Wanker.

[BK]

uh, before you go on too much more about witch hunting I think you were the guy who got the ball rolling by starting this thread with a rather provocative accusation of what was it - sub par intelligence or something?

Anyway I thought i'd go check out the carnage and was a bit underwhelmed to see no more than a couple of 3 inch diameter hemies nuked. Hardly worth the walk really.

Have you heard of FIPA?