Construction vs. Forest

People love closeness to wildlife provided by forests. You know you've been under the overhanging branches within a camp or along a street with old oaks in front of houses. Wouldn't you like more trees to give the same feeling when you are driving from town to town or from state to state? 

As I make my way to Omaha, I notice the lack of trees at the roadside in some areas, but I never fail to notice the trees that remain. Where there are trees on one length of highway, future road construction will be taking those trees away, and I don't see that they plan to plant any more where they once were. It's too much work for them, perhaps. Too much work for anyone. It's time consuming, people think. At rivers and creeks, trees also remain, but shouldn't we be making an effort to plant trees where there could be more, where there are none?

Where there are fields, there are no trees at the roadside. Why not? I'd like to see trees overhanging highways in the future, and the trees that exist today will need to someday be replaced with new ones! We need to be actively planting trees, in my opinion.

I've always been fond of a certain highway to Omaha through the north side, which has plenty of forest, not just trees at the side, but whole forests, and the region has too many hills to inhabit the area. Fortunate it is to drive along this meandering road with the scene that surrounds you, but a greater portion of this highway at first is surrounded by fields, instead of trees in the ditches on either side of the highway. Where there are hills, there are forests, but wouldn't it be better to go through the entire length of highway with trees? I support the view of deciduous trees for a fantastic view of autumn, the relief of green once spring arrives, and the sense of wildlife in the summer.

 Trees offer a wealth of security to our senses. They give us a sense of privacy and home and awareness to the wellbeing of our planet, I think. If we were surrounded by trees on our drive out to another town, wouldn't we feel better? We could diversify the interstate highways with trees and not just a view of stark, industrial fields, and the expansive feel it gives people. Not only expansive, but empty, barren, lifeless, and dull. We could have more patience for the drive if it wasn't so dull. Sure, we may think of food at the sight of fields, but let's get closer to nature and the outdoors. Let's get closer to protecting the planet.

 I'm thinking, would forestry along roads attract more deer and animals to crossing highways?

For farmers, a sense of privacy allowed by a barrier of trees around their fields is great for them as well. They can go about their work with a feeling of duty and closeness to nature, rather than a closeness to the rest of society driving past them as they work, a matter of comparison sometimes that a sense of privacy would outcast. I do think that fields near highways lack privacy for the farmers as they are now.

Is the expansive sense more beneficial than having a length of narrowness? I'm not sure, I think trees are much more appealing to the senses, don't you?

Imagine a four lane highway with trees. Trees would be much higher than the road. Where the ditches are deeper, the branches could be at the height of the road. I've seen where the ditches are higher than the road, you see the trunks of the trees and the grass of the ditch, all the while having the branches high above you. Look at the sense of grounding that takes place when you have something higher than the road when it is trees. Do you think it's grounding or security? Perhaps trees just surrounding the perimiter of both sides. Perhaps in the median in spots there could even be trees, but we'd want to foretell a road during the day to make a left turn if we have to, or to make a u-turn. I'm not sure. But I know I love seeing trees. When I see oncoming traffic, they appear to be less of a threat when I also see trees.

Finally, I would simply say that we have so much ground alongside roads to be planting trees. Does anyone have information about reforestation to contribute to this article?