I cannot tell a lie: I DID chop down the Cherry tree!

  Maybe George Washington wasn't doing such a bad thing by admitting he had chopped-down the cherry tree.
One might think this to be a bad thing: killing a potential food source, destroying a habitat for birds, etc.
On page 88 of Cradle to Cradle, we learn about the Menominnie tribe of Wisconsin, wood harvesters for many generations. Somehow they increased their "stumpage" of timber on their 235,000 acre reservation from 1.3 billion standing board feet of timber in 1870 to over 1.7 billion today; all while harvesting 2.25 billion standing board feet. Math doesn't lie. Evidently chopping down trees is not necessarily such a bad thing, when stewarded responsibly.
   This stewardship comes with a price, however. While the Tribe remains a proud and resilient people living in Wisconsin on some of the most beautiful lands ever to grace this earth they, like so many Tribes in this Nation, have become slaves to entitlements and are especially dependent upon funding provided by the Federal government through the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service. New generations are being raised by parents who have not had to earn an "honest" living. Mortality rates, obesity, poverty, unemployment, violent crime and single parent households are among the highest in the nation.
   Although the Tribe has over 8,700 members, less than half are able to reside on the Reservation due to lack of employment opportunities, available housing, and an aging infrastructure that is incapable of sustaining current demand, let alone take on additional residents or economic development opportunities.
   Sometimes, perhaps, a few trees need to be felled to make progress; to build new housing, to put people back to work, to offer a better future and more pride for themselves and those who follow. It all starts with honesty. We have a lot to learn from our elders, and should learn better how to build upon that which works. To not be dependent on an impersonal government that changes its' focus as readily as the winds shift. As George Washington said "I cannot tell a lie: I DID chop down the cherry tree". Look what it did for him. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all.