Posted on 09/29/2004 6:56:21 AM PDT by presidio9
The national bird, the bald eagle, will have a national tree, the oak, to alight on if legislation passed Tuesday by the House makes its way through Congress and is signed by the president.
The oak tree, said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia, is present in all 50 states and "represents the fundamental characteristics of this great nation: strength, endurance and beauty."
Goodlatte, in a statement, said the oak, in addition to being a highly prized material for furniture and flooring, has played a vital role in the nation's history.
He recalled how Andrew Jackson took shelter under Louisiana's Sunnybrook Oaks on his way to the Battle of New Orleans and how the USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides," repelled British cannonballs with its oak hull.
He also cited a 2001 online survey taken by the National Arbor Day Foundation, which the oak won over 20 other national tree candidates. The oak was the favorite among some 100,000 of the 444,000 votes cast. In second place was the redwood with 80,000 votes, followed by the dogwood, maple and pine.
The United States already has a national flower, the rose. The bald eagle was officially adopted as the emblem of the United States in 1787 despite the opposition of Ben Franklin, who preferred the turkey.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
If this happens, will oaks be protected, as eagles are now? No more firewood, furniture, hardwood floors? Huge fines for cutting one down?
Oak sure makes good furniture!
With all the important stuff going on, why do our damn politicians waste out time and money on crap like this.
How about making English the National Language?? You might offend someone?? Too bad!! I'm sick of tired of catering to people who are too lazy to do what our early immigrants did. NO ONE ever made them give up their native tongue. They just had enough common sense to know that "We can understand and help each other better if we're all speaking the same language".
OTOH, the Pine tree figured strongly in early American history. The trunks of the large, straight pine trees found in New England and elsewhere were highly prized by the British Navy for masts and spars, to the extent that British agents would mark trees for this use and the colonists were forbidden to cut them down for their own use. Pine trees were also the source of tar and turpentine, two of the first major foreign exports of the American colonies (which, of course, they could only export to the mother country, for controlled prices). Colonists from the Massachusetts Bay and Plimoth Plantation colony fought the British under the Pine Tree flag. Pines and spruces still form the major building material for American homes today; oak generally only plays a minor role (moulding and furnishings) in such construction. This country depends a lot more on pine trees than it does on oaks.
And what about the acorns man . . . don't forget the acorns.
I neglected to give oak credit for flooring; my mistake. But that's only in homes with hardwood floors. And even if you do have hardwood floors, there's still more pine than oak in your house.
Erm, its the English national tree. Hearts of oak and all that.
The Rose is also the National Flower of Iraq, except in Iraq, it's probably a code for centrifuge. (Remember the find in Iraq in the guy's garden?)
They better do it quickly. Phytophthora ramorum, a microscopic water mold better known as Sudden Oak Death has already killed tens of thousands of Ca. hardwoods and ornamentals.
It has now been found on the east coast as well.
Great. Maybe next they'll vote on designating an official language.
PS: Maybe this should wait until after the elections- If Kerry wins, we might want to change our national tree to the pussy willow.
Yeah, there could be a fine for possession of acorns.
If you poison the hard wood, we will burn the pine.
From the logger wars in East Texas.
White Oak gets my vote.
I think Congress should spend their time on declaring that the Rio Grande is a sovereign national border.
...And that English is the official language of America.
Damn, there goes the cost of oak cabinets.
Texans for brisket!
Nothing against oaks, but they should have made it the sequoia b/c they're already protected. No extra law needed.
The Trees
There is unrest in the forest,
There is trouble with the trees,
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas.
The trouble with the maples,
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light.
But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made.
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade.
There is trouble in the forest,
And the creatures all have fled,
As the maples scream "Oppression!"
And the oaks just shake their heads
So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights.
"The oaks are just too greedy;
We will make them give us light."
Now there's no more oak oppression,
For they passed a noble law,
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw.
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