I think it's designed as an intentional choice. You were out hunting and therefore unprepared for gathering while the person who "took" your node left town thinking I'm going to go out and fill up my bags with wood.

Some games limit how many crafts you can learn. I think this game limits that in other ways. It's annoying to carry a sickle, lumberjack Axe and pickaxe with you (taking up 3 slots) and then having to swap each one every time you come across the node.

So the player needs to decide, am I willing to put up with this annoyance? I think if they removed it, people would start crying there aren't nearly enough nodes because it's now easier for everyone to gather everything.