Appreciating Forests
Shaggy Peak, Santa Fe National Forest. Photo: Sarah Hyden.
I walk almost daily up into the Santa Fe National Forest along with neighbors and our dogs, and I am always reminded how fortunate we are to have a relatively natural and beautiful forest just outside of Santa Fe. All the forests of the Southwest and across the West are critically important to the planet, and reconnect us with the natural order in an increasingly chaotic world.
Last March, The Forest Advocate invited whoever felt so moved to write several sentences expressing why our forests are so important, and to simply appreciate them. It’s helpful to remind ourselves why conserving our forests is essential – for us and for the generations to come. And that the natural world has deep intrinsic value apart from human needs and desires.
Below are reflections on forests from some friends and readers of The Forest Advocate:
For me, the forests, any forests, represent a shrine of the sacred. The intelligence of nature and its complex ecosystem of animals, plants and minerals, like any reverent edifice, can provide calm to my mind, exercise to my body and soothing to my soul.
Our scientific knowledge of the harmonious workings of a forest continue to give us information about our Mother Earth. But for me, the direct experience of the forest, without any thought of carbon sequestration, oxygen production, cooling the earth’s surface or any other amazing gift, leaves me with a sense of awe and wonder as only a natural forest can.
The protection of our forests is all the more important with climate changes and our need for refugia increases.
– Dee Blanco, DVM
I have lived on the same property on the Old Santa Fe Trail since 1981, and before I began digging the foundations for my house in 1982, I noticed a small ponderosa tree which was only about 5 feet tall and two inches in diameter, about twelve or fifteen feet down-slope from the proposed north wall. I resolved to take care not to damage that tree during the construction, and today, about forty three years later, that tree is thriving and now is about 50 feet tall with a diameter at the base of over 20″. So I can truly say that this tree is a friend and I feel a connection to it that seems to me to be mutual. Certainly the tree has been aware of and has appreciated my love and care in the form of the regular watering I have done, especially over the last decade as the amount of rainfall and snow we get has diminished.
– David Birnbaum
Many years ago, I used to hike down a trail in Colorado that had an enormous tree that looked like it was straight out of a Harry Potter movie. It had a hole in the middle, and I always felt the magic in this tree every time I passed it. It emitted mystical energy that was palpable in my energy field. I always thanked it, feeling grateful for its presence. So, for me, trees are more than vegetation that holds the earth together with their strong roots. They are more than beautiful images that blow in the wind, gather snow on their branches and offer homes to the birds. They are spiritual beings in their own right, deserving of all the respect and gratitude we can bestow upon them.
– Ellen Kohn
Even as a child, I knew that I felt different, felt better, being in a forest. And camping in a forest, near a stream, well, that was the best. Tall pine trees somehow reminded me that I didn’t need to prove my worth to be loved. I just needed to be. After all, there they were, the trees, just being themselves, tall and glorious, waiting for me to notice.
– Dana Reilly
Trees are our partners in the climate emergency: they sequester carbon, promote rain, and network to sustain the health of the ecosystems. Trees figure in human symbolism from our beginnings because they ARE “life”; we breathe in what they breathe out. May this reciprocity continue ~ lest we perish.
– Maj-Britt Eagle
As humans, we often regard our forests only as natural resources for us to use to sustain our lives. Yes, our forests are the “lungs” of the planet. And, beyond that, as we act as stewards of our natural world, we learn to be in awe of the wisdom of our forests. The ecological foundations of our forests are there to inform humans of intrinsic values within the balance of nature.
Acting in community as stewards, we act together to partner with nature – to emulate nature’s balances and thus deepen our experiences of co-existing peacefully with nature and each other.
– Lura Brookins
A forest
A home and place
A shade for my bones, ancestral ashes
Beauty for soul and water for spirit
Solace for tears, joy for the ears
Owl hoots for a mate, I call back with my flute
Forest feeds microbes and tall-standing, ponderous pines
Filters water to make clean drinking, air for supple breaths.
Forest stands for life
Forest houses my kin, soothes my skin
A forest
A home and place
– Charly Drobeck
Forests are vital for sustaining life on our planet, as they provide habitat for countless species, purify our air, and regulate our climate. Without them, we lose the protective green lungs that keep our world healthy. I invest my time in protecting forests because their well-being ensures a livable future for all, including generations yet to come.
– Douglas Moore, The Forest Advocate admin
The forest, for me, is more than a tree-covered landscape; it is a life-sustaining force and a spiritual sanctuary. It draws clouds to the mountains, beckons rain by seeding droplets with terpenes, filters and safeguards water, breathes oxygen into the air, and sustains life through countless intricate pathways. It also holds my memories.
In Santa Fe’s forests, I scattered the ashes of my beloved Australian Shepherd, Lauper, in the 1990s. Decades later, in 2019, my Norwegian Forest Cat, Mauser, was laid to rest here as well. It is here that I discovered two of my greatest passions: skiing and observing fungi. These woods shelter moments of joy, sorrow, and personal growth—echoes of a lifetime intertwined with their roots.
– Joey Smallwood, MS Environmental Science and Policy, GIS
Natural forests cleanse the air we breathe and the water we drink, remind us of the wild things in nature, and bring sanity in a sea of humanity.
– Dr. Dominick DellaSala, Chief Scientist at Wild Heritage, John Muir Project
Forests need protection from logging, aggressive cutting, over-burning, grazing, wildlife trapping, unnecessary forest roads, off-road vehicles, and many other human impacts. Forest management must be a holistic effort to support forests’ own intelligence as they transform in a warming climate. It takes all of us. Please support conservation organizations that are working to steward our forests and helping to create a new paradigm that honors forests. And please go out into forests to enjoy and appreciate them.
4th of July – Albuquerque Trail Loop Photo: Kathleen Burke.
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