I always feel a bit bemused by those that would condemn me for doing what I do, which is being the owner of a tree service.

Well, not so much for that, more for cutting down trees, which is what a tree service often does. Actually, not for cutting down trees in general, more for cutting down trees so a builder can put up a new home.

There's something about this fact of life in a rapidly developing county where folks want to live out in the forest on the edge of town. It makes apparently normal, rational people look at me like I am the epitome of all that is bad about development. Whatever.

By "this fact of life" I mean if you are going to build a house in the forest, you're gonna have to cut down some trees. If you're gonna build a big house in the forest, which is all the rage around here, you're gonna have to cut down a lot of trees.

I think I get looked at like this epitome of bad because I am the first step and the most shocking part of this sometimes-sad process of turning open country and forest to suburbia.

Except I have noticed it isn't usually too sad for too long for the owners of the new house. Except when it happens again next door.

One gentleman replied to a recent blog of mine that he couldn't sleep at night if he did what I do. A lady mentioned in her comment about the same blog something about how I could be called a hypocrite doing this work and caring about the environment.

Well, I'll tell ya the truth. Earlier in my career I had issues with it, too. At that time about 75 percentof what I was doing was lot clearing. I asked myself why I was removing trees for builders.

I didn't like the spread of suburbia all that much, I didn't like the houses they were building all that much, and I didn't like being the first one to start tearing a place apart for a new house.

I did, however, love trees.

During this period of my contemplation, a nephew of mine asked me what work I did. I replied (somewhat cynically I suppose) that I made stumps. Yup, took big ol' trees and turned them to stumps so excavators could pull out the stumps and haul them off to the dump.

How I learned to live with this fact of my life involved a number of thoughts and realities building upon one another. Followed by my own realizations of my part and what I could do.

First of all, if I didn't do it someone else would. An old cliché, I know, but very true. It is a reality. Those trees are gonna come down, 'cause that house is gonna get built. And it ain't that hard to find another guy with a chainsaw.

Second, if I'm not doing the dirty deed, I am not going to have any input in the process. Not that I have a ton of input now, but sometimes I can help ease the environmental impact a bit.

I can make sure any trees that are not being removed are not damaged on my watch. I can advise the builder/owner on how to care for and protect whatever trees and other vegetation is left when I'm done.

I can give the builder input on how to care for these trees during and after the construction process.

I can suggest the builder use the chips I generate as mulch around these same trees. I can suggest spraying to protect them and offer up a name or two of sub-contractors that can handle that for him.

I can suggest moving a tree or two if I think it's a reasonable alternative. I can line up someone to do that, too.

If I'm not a part of the process I can't do any of those things.

I can take what is waste and generate firewood. I don't sell firewood (someone in that business once described it to me as a slow way of going broke), I give it away to friends and acquaintances who depend on it for heat in the winter. I'd rather see a tree than a cord of wood, but at least I can help a few folks out.

Heck, Susan and I burn wood all winter ourselves.

I can take what is waste and build with it. I built our home using primarily logs from construction sites. Someday I will describe building a log house out of raw logs.

For now let's just say it helps if you are obsessive-compulsive and have a strong sense for delayed gratification. And don't care if you have little social life for a few years.

Our dining room table is two slabs from a huge pine we took out. The main center post of our house is a cool log from a tree out of Forest Park. I could show you around and describe how we have used material from different jobs all over the house.

Am I blameless in this fight between urban sprawl and the desire to protect the environment? Of course not. I live on 5 acres in the country and I displaced wildlife just by moving out here.

None of us can live impact free on this planet. But it's a fact that we Americans consume at an unsustainable pace.

We can try to minimize our individual impact, not by condemning others, but by examining our own personal lifestyles and examining our own personal choices.

And you know what? I can live with mine.