THE 'JUSTES' AND THE GOOD: MORE REAL HEROES, PART II
> > by Bill Bonner
> >
> > It is a small and thankless matter to plant a tree. Oaks,
> > for example, usually grow so slowly that the planter rarely
> > lives to see them in graceful maturity. Still, people plant
> > trees.
> >
> > Jean Giono tells the story of a man who - for no reasons
> > but his own - began planting oak trees in the South of
> > France.
> >
> > "About forty years ago I was taking a long trip on foot
> > over mountain heights quite unknown to tourists in that
> > ancient region where the Alps thrust down into Provence.
> > All this, at the time I embarked upon my long walk through
> > these deserted regions, was barren and colourless land.
> > Nothing grew there but wild lavender."
> >
> > There were few trees and fewer men in that desolate area.
> > But a solitary shepherd had an idea. He began carrying with
> > him a bag of acorns and a heavy iron rod. As he tended his
> > sheep, he poked the iron bar into the ground and dropped an
> > acorn into the hole. This he did for decades. There was no
> > re-forestry program. There were no government grants. There
> > were no parks commissions, no botanists, no taxes, no fees.
> > There was just a lone shepherd, aged 55. Mr. Giono met him
> > before World War I.
> >
> > His name was Elzeard Bouffier. He had only the company of
> > his sheep and his dog. He had never studied environmental
> > science, nor perhaps ever even gone to school. But he could
> > see that the land had changed since his youth. The area had
> > been rich in grass and trees...animals...and human beings.
> > You could tell because whoever had once lived there had
> > left
> > behind their stone houses on the hillsides. They had
> > apparently overgrazed the grass and overworked the land.
> > Worst of all, they had over-cut the forests that once grew
> > there. Of the twisted oaks that used to provide shade and
> > hold the moisture close to the ground...only a few
> > remained.
> >
> > Bouffier asked no one's permission. He put no issues or
> > referendums on the ballot. He rallied no citizens and spoke
> > to no town meetings. As far as we know his name never
> > appeared in the paper - until after he was dead. But he
> > went about the work that he had taken up himself...with no
> > pay, no
> > thanks, and not even any notice.
> >
> > He planted thousands of oak trees, many of which died at
> > first. And for the rest too, progress was as slow as an
> > oak. But gradually, more and more took root. And each one
> > provided more shade...more moisture...and a more hospitable
> > place for other life to take root. Animals returned...and
> > then
> > hunters...and then game wardens.
> >
> > "In 1933
received a visit from a forest ranger
> > who notified him of an order against lighting fires out of
> > doors for fear of endangering the growth of this natural
> > forest," Giono reported. "It was the first time, the man
> > told him naively, that he had ever heard of a forest
> > growing
> > of its own accord. At that time Bouffier was about to plant
> > beeches at a spot some twelve kilometers from his cottage.
> > In order to avoid traveling back and forth - for he was
> > then seventy-five - he planned to build a stone cabin right
> > at the plantation. The next year he did so."
> >
> > The re-growth of the 'natural forest,' was a wonder to
> > everyone. In 1935 a government delegation came to examine
> > it. They didn't know what to make of it. They merely placed
> > it under government protection.
> >
> > By now the oaks were 20 to 25 feet tall. The slopes were
> > covered with them. And the old man was still at work,
> > planting his stealth forest.
> >
> > "I remembered how the land had looked in 1913," Giono
> > wrote. "A desert... Peaceful, regular toil, the
> > vigorous mountain air, frugality and, above all, serenity
> > in the spirit had endowed this old man with awe-inspiring
> > health. He was one of God's athletes. I wondered how many
> > more acres he was going to cover with trees."
> >
> > By 1945, another war had passed. Bouffier was 87 years old
> > and still at it. He had spent the second war as he had
> > spent the first one. While millions of armed men tried to
> > improve the world by killing each other, the good shepherd
> > continued to improve his world. And in the process he
> > improved ours.
> >
> > Giono:
> >
> > "In 1913 this hamlet of ten or twelve houses had three
> > inhabitants. They had been savage creatures, hating one
> > another, living by trapping game, little removed,
> > physically and morally, from the conditions of prehistoric
> > man. All about them nettles were feeding upon the remains
> > of abandoned
> > houses. Their condition had been beyond hope. For them,
> > nothing but to await death - a situation which rarely
> > predisposes to virtue.
> >
> > " everything was changed. Even the air. Instead of the
> > harsh dry winds that used to attack me, a gentle breeze was
> > blowing, laden with scents. A sound like water came from
> > the mountains; it was the wind in the forest; most amazing
> > of all, I heard the actual sound of water falling into a
> > pool. I saw that a fountain had been built, that it flowed
> > freely
> > and - what touched me most - that someone had planted a
> > linden beside it, a linden that must have been four years
> > old, already in full leaf, the incontestable symbol of
> > resurrection.
> >
> > "On the site of the ruins I had seen in 1913 now stand neat
> > farms, cleanly plastered, testifying to a happy and
> > comfortable life. The old streams, fed by the rains and
> > snows that the forest conserves, are flowing again. Their
> > waters have been channeled. On each farm, in groves of
> > maples,
> > fountain pools overflow on to carpets of fresh mint. Little
> > by little the villages have been rebuilt. People from the
> > plains, where land is costly, have settled here, bringing
> > youth, motion, the spirit of adventure. Along the roads you
> > meet hearty men and women, boys and girls who understand
> > laughter and have recovered a taste for picnics. Counting
> > the former population, unrecognizable now that they live in
> > comfort, more than 10,000 people owe their happiness to
> > Elzeard Bouffier.
> >
> > "When I reflect that one man, armed only with his own
> > physical and moral resources, was able to cause this land
> > of Canaan to spring from the wasteland, I am convinced
> > that, in spite of everything, humanity is admirable. But
> > when I compute the unfailing greatness of spirit and the
> > tenacity of benevolence that it must have taken to achieve
> > this result, I
> > am taken with an immense respect for that old and unlearned
> > peasant who was able to complete a work worthy of God.
> >
> > "Elzeard Bouffier died peacefully in 1947 at the hospice in
> > Banon."
> >
> > R.I.P.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Bill Bonner
> > The Daily Reckoning
> > -----------------
> > Editor's Note: Bill Bonner is the founder and editor of The
> > Daily Reckoning. He is also the author, with Addison
> > Wiggin, of The Wall Street Journal best seller Financial
> > Reckoning Day: Surviving the Soft Depression of the 21st
> > Century (John Wiley & Sons).
> >
> > In Bonner and Wiggin's follow-up book, Empire of Debt: The
> > Rise of an Epic Financial Crisis, they wield their sardonic
> > brand of humor to expose the nation for what it really is -
> > an empire built on delusions. Daily Reckoning readers can
> > buy their copy of Empire of Debt at a discount - just click
> > on the link below:
> > Empire of Debt
> > http://www.dailyreckoning.com/empireofdebt.html
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