They do make a lot of productive progress in those 40 years…I have a few oaks that could have become a saw log 35 years ago and they have not gotten that much bigger.
Black walnuts grow at a faster clip in their youth…from 3 to 10 feet in no time…even 10 to 25 can be amazing…but they do not go from 25 to 50 anywhere nearly as rapidly. (But, if you are measuring total mass of a tree, the added mass yearly of a 35 year old black walnut or a 50 year old one in some cases can be phenomenal…and the dense black hardwood core increases in proportion to sap wood in these old walnut trees.
I did have that feeling the first time, but seeing what I could plant in it’s place helped. I actually found cutting down trees to be oddly excellent if I’m getting hit with life’s anxiety and frustrations or something. I might look a bit too cheerful with my ax and saw 
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I only feel ok about it if it’s a black locust. they’re popping up all over
If somebody didn’t cut some trees, there’d be no AMAZON shipping…and no need for UPS, USPS or FedEx.
You may not like cutting trees…but you killed them if you bought anything that used paper.
(It wasn’t the logger…but the user that cuts most of the trees.)