Snow...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Who's saying that anything is the 'only solution'? There is no only solution to any of this-
not wool, not hand warmers, not cinder, not salt....

There is salt damage here in the East, for sure. (have you seen -or recognized- our Eastern road surfaces? ...if you can call them surfaces)
Over the years highway depts all over the country have tried varying combinations of methods to clear the roads and make them travel safe during the winter....plowing, sanding/cinder/ash, salting, other chemicals of every kind. Or Seattle's recent tactic of not doing much of anything, hoping it would melt quickly.
Every few years another 'better solution' is touted, only to be found later to cause an entirely different set of problems. I do not think the best solution has yet been found. Using just gravel or sand (or cinder?) doesn't work for every ice/snow situation either. Usually over here a combination of ice/snow tactics is used depending on the weather conditions. Salt is used much more sparingly than in the past. Add to this whole mess the state of the economy now, where there is so much less public funding for road and infrastructure maintenance and repair. It's a tough situation across the country.

You don't need to tell me about tree damage from salt and insect plagues...my entomologist daughter did research at Cornell here in NY to find solutions to the Asian Longhorn beetle's vast destruction, also working to solve the mystery of honeybee parasitic die-offs. She used to tell me all about her work. I instilled in her a love of insects and forests by taking her out into the woods myself when she was little, observing spiders and insects, collecting mushrooms, and identifying plants and birds. If you think I am laughing about the destruction of forests, you are barking up the wrong tree.