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I am not a tree-hugger and I don't think mine is an extreme point of view.

I'm not an extreme tree-hugger. I do believe trees grow and are a useful agricultural product that can be harvested without damaging the ecology and wildlife.

I'm not going to be some kind of PC, tree-hugger.

If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree.

Hugging trees has a calming effect on me. I'm talking about enormous trees that will be there when we are all dead and gone. I've hugged trees in every part of this little island.

I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do.

Like people, trees are all individuals.

You can't hate the roots of a tree and not hate the tree. You can't hate Africa and not hate yourself.

I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do.

For all of the hurtling towards climate change, there's also a lot more understanding of it than there was when we were kids. They don't call environmentalists tree huggers any more, so there's hope!