If you aren't from British Columbia, Canada, you might not be familiar with controversy around the logging operation in the Fairy Creek watershed on Vancouver Island.
You might be familiar with the spectacular old growth trees that were once part of the forests along the pacific coast. You might know that only a few tattered remnants of these forests remain intact.
Photo: Natasha Zimmers (Trail of the Cedars, Newhalem, WA)
If you hike in the Pacific Northwest, even in urban areas, you'll find enormous stumps that show our rainforest was once everywhere.
Photo: Natasha Zimmers (Snoqualmie Falls, Snoqualmie, WA)
I, and many others, want to see the last stands of these old growth trees protected, not logged.
What will they do when the old growth is all gone?
Why can't they do that now?
Why would these trees be worth more cut than standing, preserving the biodiversity of the region?
My mom was headed up in a gathering of elders, and asked me to write something for her to read. Here is my poem for my mom who took me into the wilds and encouraged me to build my own deep connection with nature.
Fairy Creek
We taught our children
Love
for the gifts of the Earth
To gently move the centipede off the trail
To watch a slug with wonder
To respect the chrysalis forming, waiting, changing
To gently tread in flower filled meadows
To watch the wandering clouds
To respect waters that flow from mountains to sea
We taught our children
Gratitude
for the gifts of the Earth
To gather only when there was plenty
To take only when they could give back
To nurture the land
To gather memories and lessons
To take nothing for granted
To to nurture connection with the giver of life
We taught our children
Joy
for the gifts of the Earth
To dance in cool, clean air
To listen to clear water’s song
To feel rough tree bark
To dance in pouring rain
To listen to birds singing in sunshine
To feel at peace on the land
We taught our children
To Care
for the gifts of the Earth
To love natural beauty,
now and forever
To show gratitude through thinking of the future,
not the moment
To bring joy by preserving what is left
for generations to come
We taught our children.
Were you listening?
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