The Living Spirit of Old-Growth Forests:Paying Respect to the Tall Straight People

byLisa Alpine

Never before had he been so suddenly and so keenly aware of the feel and texture of a tree's skin and of the life within it. He felt a delight in wood and the touch of it,neither as forester nor as carpenter; it was the delight of the living tree itself.

--Frodo the hobbit as he enters Lothlorien forest in

The Lord of the Rings

.The realization of old-growth forests as civilizations that we are destroying at ahorrifying rate is haunting me. I once thought of forests as just a few trees, not as acomplete ecosystem whole unto itself. We are used to thinking in packages andunits, not vastness. Especially since we have little or no exposure to the vastness of Nature---we have hemmed her in and preserved her in parks like museum exhibits.That is not wilderness. I understand now what naturalist Larry Eifert means when hesays we must find the wilderness inside ourselves because it is gone from our planet.Taking a walk on a well-maintained trail through a redwood grove is not the way itwas 150 years ago. It is like viewing an ant colony in a plastic home and thinkingthat is nature. We have sacrificed greatness and expansiveness for clutter and"safety".Since the white man's Gold Rush-frenzied invasion of Californian in the 1800s, only4% of the original old-growth redwood forests are left. The Headwaters Forest inHumboldt County, is the largest unprotected old-growth redwood forest remaining inthe world and yes--it is imperiled. The other west-facing old-growth forests, themossy Douglas fir and Sitka spruce old-growth, have about 8% remaining. How canwe now let multi-national companies and Texans-in-debt (Hurwitz) cut down the lastof our ancient forests? My belief is that trees are alive--a species who can't speak upin their defense against our terror of nature or our greed.I had a dream last night. I have been asking the interviewees if they dream of old-growth trees. In my dream I hiked down a ridge to my favorite redwood forestleading down to a beautiful river. As I got to where the forest started I sawblackened earth and all that was left were charred stumps. I screamed uncontrollablythat this was a sacred place and who had dared to cut it down? There were otherpeople there mourning and lighting candles. The forest was screaming, too.The purpose of this article is to anthropomorphize trees and deepen our relationshipto the forest kingdom. Our government sets aside stands of old-growth redwoods toprotect the endangered spotted owl--what about the lives of the trees? They may notbe "cute" and fuzzy and have puppy dog eyes like fur seals or the communicationskills of the dolphin, but some among them have been here since Jesus was a tike.I'd say they have seniority, spirit and wisdom if we could hear them speaking to us.

I have woven together interviews with people as diverse as James Redfield, author of

The Celestine Prophecy

; Leslie Gray, psychotherapist and shamanic healer; EliotCowan shamanic healer and author of

Plant Spirit Medicine

; Paul Hughes, Director of Forests Forever; Dr. Joshua David Stone author of many spiritual and psychologicalbooks; Larry Eifert, artist and author of

The Distinctive Quality of Redwoods

. They allshare the common thread of cherishing and protecting our old-growth forests,believing that trees do indeed have soul and purpose beyond pressboard.

When I walk in an old-growth forest the feeling is the closest to a real religious deep-seated meaning I've ever come across.

--Larry Eifert

Larry Eifert

is a world-renowned naturalist painter who's main subject has been themighty redwood giants along the Humboldt coast. He is the author of The DistinctiveQualities of Redwoods and his murals can be seen in many state and national parks.He not only paints the redwoods, he has studied them in depth and points out theirunique qualities in his book: "Redwood forests are some of the least understood, yetmost visited forests on earth. The greatest accumulation of plant mass ever recordedwas a coast redwood stand in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It contained over 7times the living matter per area of tropical rainforests, making this the highestaccumulation of life on our planet. Redwoods grow in a family circle and haveinterconnect root systems, enabling trees to join forces in collecting water andstabilizing themselves against wind and flood."

What feeling do you get in the old-growth redwood forests that are left?

They seemed inaccessible at first, though I was drawn to walking in them like acathedral or art museum. I forced myself to paint and learn about them and I gaineda religious fervor for them. When I walk in an old-growth forest the feeling is theclosest to a real religious deep-seated meaning I've ever come across. I don't knowif one can put their finger on it.On the other hand, the forests are now so small. It feels like I am in a primordialforest, but when I see trails and hear traffic that feeling of old-growth forest is gone.I think it is important to save the Headwaters (in its original state) and not cut it upwith roads and campgrounds. Have it be the last place people can experiencewilderness that they can't get with just one tree.Aside from the Headwaters, there is not really an old-growth redwood forest issueany more. To me, they represent museums, not real forests. Tourists come here andsee redwood groves beside the road on Hwy. 101 and think there are lots left. This isnot true...they're only beside the road, not on the hills.I like to make the distinction between a redwood tree and a huge old-growth forestlike the Headwaters. People ask how many acres does it take to make a forest.Spotted owls need several 1000 acres. For me, I'd like to not see light at the edge of the forest where it has been clear cut, not hear or smell cars, or see worn trails.

Save The Redwoods is now buying hillsides around parks, even if they have beencut, to protect watershed in hopes that in several hundred years there will be an old-growth forest there, not just a pocket of trees.

Do you believe trees have spirits?

Yeah, I do. I am not sure they are the same spirits we have. Where do you draw thatline? I think they must have great experience and the fact they all join their rootstogether suggests a community or family. It is interesting to think there are all thesegroups to save the whales or the gnatcatchers, but there are few groups saving less-animated creatures. I think that is a young job--chaining yourself to a tree. Theyoung activists here are fervent in what they believe. People really care about theredwoods once they get to know them. It just takes loving and understanding them.I don't think you can understand them by whizzing past them at 60 miles-an-hour. Imake my living doing nature art all over the country and I keep coming back tothese forests. It is in my will to put my ashes in a redwood forest and let my nutrientgo back into the soil.

Have you ever seen plant spirits or devas in the forest?

I don't think so. I have had deep feelings. I feel these forests are strong andknowledgeable, like an old man. Yet they seem so fragile and unprepared to fight forthemselves, like an old man. Like the Dyersville Giant in the Roosevelt Grove. Awoman in 1919 stood in front of bulldozers to protect that grove. The DyersvilleGiant fell awhile back. It had been the tallest tree in the world. It was one of themost tragic things I've ever seen, like a cathedral that had collapsed. I was one of the first people to see it down and I walked the length of the tree. When I came backa week later it felt like rigor mortis had set in, just like in a human body.

Have you been in the Headwaters Forest?

I flew over it years ago before most people knew it was there. The Headwaters wasbrought to people's attention because Hurwitz came along and was planning toliquidate all those trees. Otherwise, it might have been cut acre-by-acre slowly anddisappeared without anyone knowing. Hurwitz may be a blessing in disguise! Mysense is that in a hundred years no one is going to care if we gave money to a crook.You don't stop to think what Yosemite cost when it was purchased, all that mattersis that it is preserved. Same with the Headwaters in a hundred years.

Is there anything else you want to say?

I would have you stress we are talking about the forest and not individual trees. Ittakes many components to make old-growth forests. If you take any of those away,the forest loses its integrity. I am sad to say there are virtually no streams in old-growth forests that run clean and pure with fish like they used to. I can name onlythree.

It is important to realize that the forest is really more than the trees.

--Paul Hughes