A Forest Returns

The film, A Forest Returns, was really interesting and brought a lot of things to my mind while viewing. I was surprised to know that all of the woods had been logged and had all grown back and multiplied in size. The entire story of how they did this really made me think. First, if they can take such a negative thing and make it into something positive why can't we do the same thing with the issues we read in Lost Mountain? They bought land from poor farmers and then hired young men to rebuild an entire forest and other things. I think that if they can do something this amazing so long ago then we can definitely do something too. I think that coal companies could and should compensate the people who are directly affected by their mining and even create jobs for these people in the areas to help them out financially and help their community. I think if coal companies were more sensitive towards those that are affected and provided opportunities for work then the situation could improve greatly. The fact is that mountaintop removal and such happens in poor rural areas and these people don't have the money or resources to file complaints and go through legal processes to prove their point. I think to make lemonade out of lemons these companies should provide job opportunities that will decrease the negative effects of their mining such as building things in order to prevent erosion and chemicals getting into their drinking water. This would help the people out financially, keep them busy, as well as helping their community by keeping their water clean.

The movie made me realize that when we don't have simple solutions to big problems we should first work with the problem and then try to find ways to help everyone out and make it a win-win for everyone instead of companies controlling the land and the people.