Joni Mitchell and Unimproved Land

If we live long enough, we all get there.

We were driving along I-10  a few days ago when a friend in the car mentioned something about all the “unimproved” land, and what could be done with it. Too polite to start a discussion that would once again pit me against the main stream thinking, I hummed along. But decided to write a little thought about it. And herrrrrrrrres the thought!

Unimproved my ass. How’s that for a thought. Land gone back to forest and scrub after the longleaf association was destroyed for farming is the farthest from unimproved. What we were actually seeing, by the way, was mostly pine plantation (planted and farmed pine trees). So that particular land was mostly “improved” already.

My beef with the term “unimproved” lies in the incorrect thinking of many people that the land when left in a natural state is somehow less valuable than the so-called improvements that man brings with his occupation. Exactly the opposite is true: land left alone stabilizes the soil, harbors a biodiversity that is staggeringly complex, cleans the air, helps to stabilize the temperature and provides places for quiet reflection and recreation. Try fitting those things on a peanut farm or housing development.

Get over the idea that by using the land we “improve” it. We don’t. We destroy the natural abilities of land to function, and replace it with dysfunctional alternatives. Remember the song that Joni Mitchell wrote called “Big Yellow Taxi”? (1) These were part of the lyrics:

Don't it always seem to go 
That you don't know what you've got 
Till it's gone 
They paved paradise 
And put up a parking lot

They took all the trees 
Put 'em in a tree museum * 
And they charged the people 
A dollar and a half just to see 'em

That is what happens when people “improve” things natural. And folks, it isn’t pretty. And, we are not too far from those “tree museums” Joni sang of. So the next time you get a chance to express yourself on the issue of the rape and “improvement” of the environment, think before you say something really, really stupid.

Image: http://civilianglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/TimesTalk_Joni_Mitchell_photo_davidleyes-0122.jpg

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJIuP7zEVeM