Argument for Environmental Sciences

Main Points for Our Side

1. The Taxol trees harvesting in mass has little to no effect on the environment due to its fast

regeneration rate and ability to reproduce asexually and sexualy. This is according to the

University of British Columbia.

2. The President/US has the power over the resources of the land due to the fact that in the

Quinnipiac treaty no delegation was given to account for the lands resources.

3. The Area of the Taxol trees extends far beyond the area where the Indians live and is on

Federal Land making it under the Jurisdiction of the United States government. This is shown by

looking at a map of Washington State where they live and noticing that there is federal land

around the tribe.

4. According Cancer.org, Natives have a high rate of Cancer that is higher than the normal

population so harvesting the Pacific yew can benefit the indians.

5. According to the US census The population of the Natives (2,535) but 1,370 in the 2000

census is miniscule compared to the people who could benefit from the cure of Taxol.
6. The Natives do not use the pacific yew for anything and as we see with the Mount Helens the

destruction of the surrounding area was great but in a short amount of time the ecosystem was

restored due to nature's compensatory abilities. The Natives used slash and burn techniques to

make the soil more fertile and filled with nutrients so using that knowledge it can be concluded

that a cutting down of the Trees on a cyclical basis can actually help the environment.

7. Through the process of somatic embryogenesis seeds can be produced en masse to help with

re seeding processes.

8. According to west wind hardwood.com, This tree is mostly poisonous to its bark and fruits but

in the right amounts the fruits can be used as a laxative but the seeds are poisonous also.

Although it is poisonous it was also used by natives medicinally.

9. The British Columbia University website reports that The Yew is one of the oldest trees in the

world which shows that the tree is very durable and won't die easily.

10. The drug Taxol is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, which are

the most effective and safe medicines needed in a health system.

11. Paclitaxel is approved in the UK for ovarian, breast and lung, bladder, prostate, melanoma,

esophageal, and other types of solid tumor cancers as well as Kaposi's sarcoma. This is from the

NHS databank.
Counter Arguments

1. "By Cutting Down trees you hurt the environment by decreasing oxygen levels in the air"

- The effect of cutting down the pacific yew tree will have a minimal effect on world oxygen

levels due to the fact that only 15-30% of the world's oxygen according to the Huffington post

comes from trees while the majority of the world's oxygen comes from the ocean specifically

phytoplankton also known as algae.

-Also Contrary to popular belief Carbon dioxide is actually good for plants to grow and the

greater the CO2 levels in the air the more plants will grow. THE current atmospheric average of

CO2 on earth based on NASA data is 400 ppm but in greenhouse rooms a CO2 level of 1500

PPM can increase yields by at least 30% for plants. This is obvious since we know that plants

use the CO2 we exhale to grow and is also based off of info from fifthseasongardening.com.

Also most of the Greenhouse gas effect 70% comes from water vapor.

2. "The Natives land is there's and they deserve to keep the land and all the resources of the land"

- The land does belong to the Natives but the trees are mostly on Federal Land which makes the

decision out of the Jurisdiction of the Natives. In 1909 the land surrounding the settlement was
turned into Olympic National park which is owned and operated by the United States

government. Natives in the Quinnipiac treaty made it clear that they were a dependent of the US

and also enjoys benefits such as a 25,000 pay off by the US in the Treaty, Tax exemption, and

the benefits of protection of the US. Therefore the harvesting of the Trees are legal because they

were not deprived of their property without just compensation making it in line with the 5th

amendment.

3. "Won't this speed up global warming"

- Climate Change is caused by mostly factors that are not many made such as the change of Axis

tilt of the earth (which according to many sources such as futurism, NASA and PBS could

change and is changing right now , the weakening of the magnetic field, the changes in sun

activity as reported by NASA data , and the change of the Earth's Vibration or Schumann

resonance. Also according to sites like National geo all planets in the solar system are going

through Climate change and there are not any trees on the other planets. An example is Mars is

growing and atmosphere and the ice cap is melting while Venus has been 2500% brighter

because of atmospheric changes.

4. The Trees might be important to the Natives and their way of life

Yeah you are correct in that observation but what you fail to understand is that the Wood

due to its extremely hard nature and anti-decaying properties made it a good wood for
 weapons on top of the fact that it was poisonous. The Celtic people's in Modern day

Ireland used this wood for weapons too. Taxus is a Latin word for "bow." Some

historians believe that Robin Hood's bow was made from English yew. The fact is that

the Irish don't use the tree for making bows because most people in the world with

modern technology don't need to use Bows for hunting and this is the same for indians.

They do not need to use the tree due to the fact that their lifestyle has changed drastic that

the only use for the tree would be to make weapons for sentimental purposes.

You also may say that the process of chopping down trees might hurt the indians but the

main industries for the tribe are Casinos, Fishing and Timber. The Indians could sell the

trees of the pacific yew to get a profit since the tree will be in a high demand from the

drug companies thus fetching a higher price that the average run of the mill woods.
Closing statement

To wrap things up, I would once again like to go over the main points as to

why we should not conserve this land, but use it as an advantage to help

treat cancer patients. There is minimal effect on the environment that

harvesting the taxol trees in mass has. Its regeneration rate is quicker

compared to other trees, and it can produce both asexually and sexually.

The area in which taxol tree are grown is no longer where the indians live

on, and is considered federal land. In the Quinnipiac treaty, no delegation

was given to account for the lands resources, and therefore the president

has power over the resources of the land. Harvesting the Pacific Yew is not

only beneficial to cancer patients, but the indians as well. Natives have a

higher rate of developing cancer than normal populations. The population of

the Natives (2,535) but 1,370 in the 2000 census is miniscule compared to

the people who could benefit from the cure of Taxol. The Natives do not use

the Pacific yew to their advantage. Although the area surrounding Mount

Helens went through a great amount of destruction, Natures compensatory

abilities helped restore the ecosystem in a short amount of time. We have

also come to the conclusion that cutting down the Trees on a cyclical basis

can actually help the environment, due to the techniques that the Natives

use such as slash and burn techniques. These techniques fill the soil with

nutrients, and help make the soil more fertile. Seeds can be produced in

masse to help with re-seeding processes through the process of somatic

embryogenesis. Considering the Yew is one of the oldest trees in the world,

we can now conclude that it is very durable, and will not die as easy as other

types of trees. This is a benefit because we can use the tree to its full

extent, and a longer period of time. The drug Taxol is on the World Health

Organization's List of Essential Medicines. This gives more of a reason and is

yet another benefit to using the trees because the drug that will be produced

out of it is one of the most effective and safe medicines needed in a health

system. Paclitaxel is approved in the UK for ovarian, breast and lung,

bladder, prostate, melanoma, esophageal, and other types of solid tumor

cancers as well as Kaposi's sarcoma. There are various amounts of benefits

to using these trees, not only for those fighting the battle against cancer,

but it also benefits the Natives themselves in their own home. We highly

suggest you take in consideration these benefits, and make the decision

most effective for society.

Definitions:

1. Schumann resonance- The Schumann resonances (SR) are a set of

spectrum peaks in the extremely low frequency (ELF) portion of the

Earth's electromagnetic field spectrum. Schumann resonances are

 global electromagnetic resonances, generated and excited by lightning

discharges in the cavity formed by the Earth's surface and the

ionosphere. Or in sum in substance earth's heartbeat.

2. Somatic embryogenesis- Somatic embryogenesis is an artificial

process in which a plant or embryo is derived from a single somatic

cell or group of somatic cells. Somatic embryos are formed from plant

cells that are not normally involved in the development of embryos,

i.e. ordinary plant tissue.

3. Mt Helens Eruption- A Volcanic explosion in a National park that

caused massive devastation of the surrounding areas. It happened in

Washington State which is the same state where the case study is

taken place.