Terri Birkett's 'Truax'

Terri Birkett’s “Truax” also spreads an environmental message but from a different angle. In this story a logger named Truax is confronted by an aggressive tree-faced character named Guardbark, protector of the trees. “I WON’T take a seat, or LISTEN, or LOOK” is how he interacts with the logger who is portrayed as kind with his reply, “Talking’s much better than losing your head!” Throughout this fable it is a rather one sided presentation given by Truax with little time given to Guardbark’s view. “Truax” opens in a setting described as picturesque, as opposed to the bleak setting of “The Lorax”. The logger states, “I welcome you here where the Loblolly grow and the roots of the Shadegrove tickle your toes. Where the Shrub-bird sings and hums …show more content…
The loggers defense is for every tree planted, he plants five seeds and other loggers do the same accounting for six million a day. This environmental concept of forest sequestration failed to take into consideration recent studies that support the benefits of older trees (Harmon, M., Ferrell, W., & Franklin, J. (1990, February 9)). “Converting old-growth forests to younger forests reduce carbon storage” and “The conversion of the old-growth forests to younger forests under current harvesting and use conditions has added and will continue to add carbon to the atmosphere” (Harmon, M., Ferrell, W., & Franklin, J. (1990, February 9)). Another factor is “young forests rather than old-growth forests are very often conspicuous sources of carbon Dioxide because the creation of new forests (whether naturally or by humans) frequently follows disturbance to the soil and the previous vegetation, resulting in a decomposition rate of coarse woody debris, litter and soil organic matter (measured as heterotrophic respiration) that exceeds the NPP of the re-growth (Old-growth forests as global carbon sinks. (2008, September …show more content…
“Cutting down the tress sends SOME critters running But others move in, some cute and some cunning” and “A newly cut forest has sun on the ground And BIODIVERSITY leaps and abounds”. This is another misgiving as ecosystems play a major role in keeping the earth stable; by causing one “critter” to leave we disrupt this balance and it acts against biodiversity. At this point the Guradbark appears to soften with his next reply, “What about ENDANGERED species, my friend?” Truax admits that this is a tough question and rhetorically asks at what cost should we incur to save “a few minnows from dying away”. He also downplays the question by asking, “Would anyone mind if we lost, say, a tick that carried a germ that made Cuddlebears sick?” Birkett presents a casual attitude toward endanger species and fails to address the need for balance. If one organism is removed from the habitat, it will ultimately affect the entire ecosystem. The fable concludes with the exaggeration of the consequences of never cutting down a trees. It is concluded that the houses would exhaust our ore resources as the houses would be made of plastic and

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