New book calls for a world where trees are kin, not commodities
Last month — shortly before she will bring her 40-year career as a daily journalist to a close this summer — Lynda Mapes published her seventh book: “The Trees Are Speaking: Dispatches from the Salmon Forests.”
The book connects the present and future of Pacific Northwest forests to the hard-logged legacy forests of the northeastern United States. With vivid stories supported by science and traditional ecological knowledge, Mapes invites readers to understand the world where trees are kin, not commodities.
Mapes began working at The Seattle Times in 1997, specializing in coverage of the environment, natural history and Native American tribes. After retirement, she will continue to write, speak and travel, sharing her passion for the natural world, she told Salish Current in an interview.
“The Trees are Speaking” is a call to altering our relationship with forests. Mapes wrote the book “for the general public, to explain the wonder of old-growth ecosystems,” she said. She describes the importance of old-growth trees and the interrelationship between salmon and the forest.
Mapes said she was influenced by Jerry Franklin, a University of Washington professor who wrote the Northwest Forest Plan in 1994, as well as teachings of indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest.
Healthy forests provide shade for cool water and structure for stream banks, with fallen logs creating pools needed for salmon habitat. And at the end of their life, salmon return upstream from the ocean. Their carcasses provide nutrients for the entire food chain and fertilize the forest.
“Salmon forests are so green, they are visible from space,” she said.
The book started with a focus on the Northwest, she said, “but became a bicoastal journey.” She spent time with people on Vancouver Island questioning, “where did this idea of cutting it all up come from?”
Clear-cutting in North America began in Maine even before the United States was formed, as early as 1600, and was in full force in the early decades of the 1800s. The Atlantic salmon in Maine are now endangered, with one of the reasons being clear-cutting, while Puget Sound chinook salmon were listed in 1999 as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
Mapes is an associate of the Harvard Forest of Harvard University and was awarded a fellowship to study the forests in that region. “It is a very parallel situation,” she said.
“The Trees are Speaking” vividly describes an unforgettable climb that Mapes made 200 feet up using a rope. Her experience on the Discovery Tree, a 400-year-old Douglas fir at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, east of Eugene, Oregon, left an indelible impression.
The book examines logging practices and the loss of the old-growth forests, as well as research on the values and characteristics of old-growth forests. It explains the consequences of replanting a monoculture of a single species of tree following a clear-cut. Mapes emphasizes, “We need to reconsider our relationship with the forest, away from commodification and go back to one of reciprocation and relationship.”
She understands that we need wood products, acknowledging that she herself uses paper and pencils, among other things.
Asked what she sees for the near future of the Salish Sea, Mapes spoke about the rich ecosystem: “There is incredible wealth from the sea, coming back to the land.” She expressed optimism that because the Pacific Northwest ecosystem is so powerful, “given the slightest chance, if we allow it, it can be restored. The Salish Sea is remarkable place.”
‘Time to warrior up’
In her book, Mapes describes threats to forests as “an apocalypse of hot drought, fire, bugs, pestilence and death.”
Calling for a paradigm shift, she asks readers to recognize the immense capacity for renewal within the lands and waters themselves. “As we confront biological impoverishment and climate catastrophe, this restorative power is what we must unleash,” she writes.
“This really is a time to warrior up and defend this place,” she said.
People can do things such as hold politicians accountable and work on land restoration.
When asked about threats to old-growth forests in National Forests recently announced by the Trump administration, she said the chances of those cuts actually happening are minimal. “It absolutely won’t happen,” she asserted. “It’ll get swatted down or rescinded.”
Mapes’s speaking events kick off in Friday Harbor on May 13, in an event co-sponsored by Salish Current and Friends of the San Juans.
“Lynda Mapes has captured our hearts and activated our minds with her storytelling and powerful reporting. The influence of her words helps people to see their interconnectedness with Southern Resident killer whales, forests and this special place within the Salish Sea,” said Friends of the San Juans executive director Eva Schulte.
“Lynda’s 28-year reporting career at the Times has been stellar,” said Mike Sato, executive editor at Salish Current. “It’s a pleasure and an honor to be with her in the islands.”
— By Nancy DeVaux
Local events
San Juan Island: May 13, 5–7 p.m., Brickworks, 150 Nichols Street, Friday Harbor. Sponsored by Salish Current and Friends of the San Juans. Book reading, discussion and signing, thanks to Griffin Bay Bookstore, who will staff the event. Information and registration.
Lopez Island: May 14, 6 p.m. Join Lynda for a book discussion and slide show with a book signing to follow with Lopez Bookshop. At the Lopez Library, 2225 Fisherman Bay Road.
Orcas Island: May 15, 6 p.m. Join Lynda on Orcas Island for an evening presented by the SeaDoc Society and supported by Darvill’s Bookstore, the island’s independent bookstore. The event is at 6 p.m., Emmanuel Parish Hall, 242 Main Street, in Eastsound. Information.
Bellingham: May 16, 6 p.m. The event will take place at Setting Sun Circle, a venue newly opened by Children of the Setting Sun at 210 W. Holly Street in downtown Bellingham. Sponsored by CSS and the North Cascades Institute. Reading, discussion and signing, thanks to Village Books, who will staff the event.
Also read in Salish Current:
“Litigation looms over latest round of Washington state timber sales,” Oct. 3, 2024
“‘Seeing the Forest’ salon to benefit forest conservation,” July 28, 2023
“Can trees save the Nooksack River?” Aug. 5, 2022
“Nooksack Tribe and partners face up to climate change challenge,” Oct. 29, 2021
“More scrutiny sought on proposed logging around North Fork,” June 26, 2020