In a deeply reported feature for the Seattle Times, Lynda Mapes dives into the ongoing battle in Washington over the fate of our second-growth forests on public lands, some over a century old, which are sequestering carbon and nurturing flourishing, diverse ecosystems as they grow — and also worth a lot of money to public services throughout the state. She gives us an intimate portrait of the people who are most involved with these so-called legacy forests: the loggers who skillfully fell the trees so they can be made into products we all use, the forest biologists who study them, the activists who take the sale markers off of trees and file lawsuits, the Indigenous people with ancient familial ties to these lands, and the public officials who are caught on all sides of the battle. And she explains the biological and societal reasons why these forests with old-growth potential are so valuable to numerous species, including us, and to the planet as a whole. Photo: Joe Mabel via Wikimedia Commons
