LOGGERS LAMENT: possible folk song lyrics

I’ve worked in these woods for thirty five years
First as a helper trying to stay safe and clear,
Then working a saw and sometimes an axe
And now running a crew of rugged old Jacks.

We’re stewards of forests but some disagree
They say that we’re reckless and wasting the trees.
They’d like to see the logging all end
Save all trees and send us round the bend.

When we do our job we do it all right
We pick and we choose and we never lose sight
Of the fact that tomorrow we still need to work
So we take just what we need and plant more in the dirt.

In the old days they stripped the trees from the hills
They fed all the wood into the kilns
The charcoal then went up to the mines
Pig iron was made and sent down the line.

After those years the hillsides were bare
Rivers were ruined and fires burned everywhere
Then the mines were closed up their towns faded away
The forests came back slowly to what we have today.

So all you do-gooders in your ivory towers
In all of your clubs who hold all the power
We’ve learned from the past we’ve seen the mistakes
Leave us alone we just want a fair shake.

Let us go out and cut down some trees
For every one cut we’ll plant another three
We’ll make a living and stay here and grow
Along with the forest that we’ve come to know.