The real price of conservation and the real conservationists

Now at the outset, I'm a tree hugger at heart, even though I know the price of conservation.  I always have been, will die when a tree falls on me.  I like to sleep in the dust and if I don't on occasion, then all is lost to me, because it is often said, that God keeps faith with those who sleep in the dust and likely not with anyone else.  And there is a god, even if he is that collection referred to in this which I hesitate to share with anyone for fear that I'm right, but I can't help that because if that is God then he fills my thoughts with my heresies.  That's just how it goes.
But this is about the true conservationists and liking trees doesn't mean that I don't know who the true conservationists are.  It doesn't mean that I don't understand the price of conservation, which is death.
It is unfortunate, but the operators of the strip mine pulling copper out of the earth and leaving a scar that can be seen from Mars are doing more to save this pitiful place than all the people driving spikes in trees to keep them from being cut.
This doesn't mean that I want forests cut down or that I don't think that for every strip mine, a beautiful park should be left in its wake (a mile deep into the earth).  But it is a well known fact that every 65 million years more or less, this stupid rock self destructs.  That's a long time between break ups, but if we want it to survive, we have to figure out a way to deal with that and we're not going to do that by letting christmas trees grow to maturity without cutting them down, although it would be nice if at least some of them were allowed to live.  We're not going to save the world without technology.  Now we do need to get rid of a few billion people and replace them with trees, but until we wise up and figure out we're destroying eden; we're the most likely cause of the end of the world during this 65 million year cycle.
But if it wasn't us, if somehow we were able to achieve the group intelligence of the individual (because as individuals many of us know how stupid we are as a group) the only way we'll save this rock is with technology far beyond what we have.
Of course, it is much more likely that life will rise again; and the only thing we will contribute is that the new bacteria can feed on the massive surplus of human corpses for which we only have each other to blame.