" Forest sociologist Robert Lee says city dwellers are more likely to feel guilt toward nature, which he attributes to disconnection from nature rather than empathy toward it: "They are very likely to regard trees as a symbol of immortality or continuity," wrote Lee in one study. Rural residents, by contrast, "can live with the ambivalence of loving nature and cutting trees. It's an acceptance that that's life. "

― Lyndsie Bourgon , Tree Thieves: Crime and Survival in North America's Woods