“History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” ~ Mark Twain

Greetings from Protect Ancient Forests!

This springtime note is the first in a series of newsletters that we will be sharing to keep you updated as we embark upon the next phase of our collective quest to safeguard our nation’s remaining old growth forests.

Earlier this month, we attended a talk by renowned historian Heather Cox Richardson (Letters from an American) in Belfast, Maine — during which she spoke about the history of American democracy and, more specifically, how the pre-Civil War events of the 1850s is what gives her hope today.

Seemingly untenable situations have historically, with great effort and sacrifice, been able to be remedied in a relatively short period of time.

Richardson’s talk was a reminder about the important role that history can play in shaping narratives about what is possible for us to achieve today.

Protect Ancient Forests is building upon a longstanding (but often forgotten) American tradition — the responsibility of each generation to rise up in defense of our public lands.

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Looking back across U.S. history, there have been countless attempts to improperly use public lands — including prospectors filing mining claims in the Grand Canyon, damming a valley in Yosemite National Park, overgrazing cattle in Yellowstone, hunting nesting shorebirds for fashionable feathers in the Everglades — and otherwise spoiling common treasures at the expense of future generations.

In all of these cases, it took impassioned pleas from improbable coalitions of Americans to stop local short-term interests from destroying that which belongs to us all in perpetuity.

In the spirit of this storied tradition, Protect Ancient Forests is dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of safeguarding the remaining old growth forests on our public lands.

Much of our nation’s remaining old growth (including approximately 5 million acres of the Tongass National Forest, located in southeast Alaska, which is the world’s largest intact coastal temperate rainforest) is managed by the Department of Agriculture.  Old growth forests are therefore still being treated like crops (National Forests are managed by the USDA), as opposed to parks (National Parks are managed by the Department of Interior).

Without the context of the above-mentioned history, it may seem odd that Mainers are leading an effort to save seemingly faraway forests.  But recognition of our shared responsibility to U.S. public lands is precisely how previous efforts to safeguard threatened places have been successful.

And, even without this historical context, never before has the reality of our environmental interconnectedness been so critical, so apparent and so urgent.

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Our goal is to educate the public about the importance of our nation’s old growth forests, by promoting the arts and sciences and inspiring bold action to forever protect these majestic ecosystems in a Curtain of Green.

After leaving Richardson’s talk, we pondered what role art may have played in helping to raise public awareness about the state of the world in the 1850s.  Unsurprisingly, our research revealed how that tumultuous decade produced classic works such as Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin and Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.

Art is so often what moves the American public to action.  We would like to reiterate our immense gratitude to all of you who generously supported and who were able to attend our Climate Aid: The Voice of the Forest event — where music, poetry, art and science blended with Indigenous wisdom and inspiring Congressional leadership, catapulting this issue into the public consciousness here in Maine and beyond.

So, what’s next?

As we write this, a legal storm is brewing concerning uniform application of the National Environmental Policy Act, which is one critical protection that has been utilized to ensure that the environmental impacts of federal projects (such as large-scale commercial timber harvesting on public lands) are properly considered.

Protect Ancient Forests was instrumental in stalling out the 95,000+ acre Black Ram logging project in the Kootenai National Forest (in northwest Montana), which was then formally halted by a federal judge who ruled that the Forest Service did not properly take into consideration the project’s environmental impacts.  The Forest Service has since appealed that decision to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.  Additionally, the American Forest Resource Council (an influential trade group representing commercial timber interests in the American west), recently petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court in a separate federal case (also involving improper environmental analysis), citing the Black Ram logging project as an example of what they refer to as “weaponization” of the National Environmental Policy Act.

It seems that Black Ram has become a line in the sand for everyone involved.

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Protect Ancient Forests is gearing up for the road ahead.  We are continuing to rally support for creative and achievable pathways to permanent protection of our imperiled National Forests, and have been strengthening relationships with leading forest defenders around the country who provide us with valuable up-to-the-minute information about the situations unfolding on the ground in our National Forests.

We will soon be sharing a collection of resources that we have produced — including a short documentary film (created in collaboration with Maine filmmaker Josh Gerritsen).  These resources will be released in conjunction with a direct call to action, reigniting our energized grassroots movement and emboldening Congresswoman Pingree to ensure that old growth logging becomes, to echo her words, “a practice of the past.'“

Thank you for your continued support — and for believing in the powerful connections between art, science, and advocacy that we at Protect Ancient Forests are weaving together like the vast and complex mycorrhizal networks that flourish beneath the soil of our majestic ancient forests.

In defense of our sacred public lands,

Alyssa & Michael

Protect Ancient Forests, Co-Founders