Old Growth Logged
Looking out from the wild huckleberries, from a time not too long ago in Southeast Alaska.
Perhaps some of my most important work as a photographer, writer, earth lover and witness has been for For The Wild, a multimedia organization // "Anthology of the Anthropocene" // documentarian crew creating content and awareness in defense of the last remaining Wild places on Earth, and all the beings that call them Home. This week we are releasing my photographs along with a campaign to help defend the forest - and we need your help.
The Tongass : home to eagle, salmon, bear, and some of the last remaining groves of ancient Cedar, Sitka Spruce, and more. I had the privilege of meeting these majestic trees, listening to the native peoples, and photographing the entire ecology of the place for this specific story. Logging in the area is not financially viable. Yet currently, the Trump Administration is attempting to revoke the Roadless Rule, which would decrease regulations and increase even more logging to the already threatened area.
Walking through this clearcut of former old growth was not easy. In fact, it was very difficult to breathe. I still feel my lungs seize up when I look at this photo. There's not to many of them left. Let's help.
Your Tasks:
1. Submit your public comment to the US Forest Service (TODAY is the last day). It will take you one minute. https://www.seacc.org/usfs_comment
2. Watch the film we made - if you wish. It is the first of a larger documentation, a twelve-minute love story, from Women to the Forest. https://forthewild.world/when-old-growth-ends
3. Follow For The Wild's facebook or instagram, listen to the podcast episode for interviews with the indigenous grandmothers, and learn a bit more about the sticky, icky, convoluted and majorly outdated politics of the logging industry in Alaska.
Thank you for your attention, to these ancient beings and to this earth.
With the fog comes the fireweed flowers. Fireweed is a pioneer plant that is one of the first to grow after clearcuts to remediate the soil.
In love.