I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

-- Joyce Kilmer

Alanpoi, your first line is completely at odds with the rest of your post.

Just what ‘appalling ignorance’ are you talking about?

the sooner we become a barren desert nation the better, chop em all down, they attract noisy birds, are messy and most of them are ugly.
When a tree falls in the forest does anyone really give a stuff?

Alanpoi, you will find that many of the farmers grandfathers that you refer to, HAD to chop down trees. It was government policy that the land had to be cleared at a certain rate, or it would be resumed and sold to someone more enterprising. Farmers (like many industries) have suffered the whims of government policies over many years. A good one was the restriction on the size of land ownership, which prevented farmers from purchasing more property back when returns were good and they would have been able to afford it. Now many farmers are stuck between a rock and a hard place, and dont have the size of land they would otherwise have been able to buy, to achieve the necessary economies of scale to be profitable in this day and age of dimishing returns.

Policies with regards to environmental use that restict farmers (or require particular actions), are mostly similarly misguided and fail to achieve the best results long term, for either farmers OR the environment. This is given that most policies are made on the prevailing popular opinion at the time, rather than good scientific research or consultation with those people that have managed that land (despite government interference) for generations - farmers.

I presume you are from QLD Gal, down here we didn't have governments telling anybody to chop trees down they did it without encouragement, and if they couldn't cut em down quick enough they burnt em.
As for farmers managing land, if it wasn't for science and research they would still be using the destructive practices of their forebearers. 50 years ago my father who was ready to adapt and try new methods, and was known as "a progressive farmer" by the the Ag Dept, but was considered a freak by his peers, as they sniggered and sneered behind his back, then called him lucky when what he tried worked. The same happened here 25 years ago when one of local "freaks" advocated applying lime, they said he was mad , now it is standard practice.
So you can have your romantic notions about farmers managing land, they have a history of shocking mistakes from desertifaction by over grazing fragile soils, soil erosion by overclearing, destruction of soil structure by overcultivation, just 3 examples without mentioning imported pest and plants.
Now don't get me wrong we need farmers to grow food and fibre, but as land managers they have made some disasterous mistakes and continue to do so.
Your average farmer thinks that farming is the only valid use of land, and city slickers, greenies and other freaks have no rights at all, this is wrong, valid opinions on land use are a right not the preserve of one small powerfull vocal group.

Alanpoi, I am from NSW. When my family first bought their land, the rule was that you had to build structures on it, and clear a certain percentage each year to maintain ownership. This was my grandfather's generation. Lucky for my family there was only one tree on the place anyway (naturally), so they ended up planting a heap around the homestead to provide windbreaks. Excuse me if I am unenamoured of slickers and greenies, but I've had one greenie try to stand me down on my own property and tell me how bad the farmers were for clearing it. If you have any idea of the history of the Hay Plains........

Yep, there are cowboys in the industry and always will be (as in every other industry). Their actions mostly speak for themselves. The problem is that if try to regulate to the lowest common demoninator, you stifle those that do the right thing. Wouldnt it be better to pass laws with regards to this and that (not clearing in certain conditions etc), then allow for self-assessment, with a reasonable amount of judicious auditing. And tight control over those that have been previously found to fall foul of the laws (yes Mr Greentree). Goodness, we allow every taxpayer to self-assess, then audit to keep an eye on things. And its far easier to audit something like landclearing - they already do this with satellite imaging