The Journey
Friday was a red tail hawk day of cool air and sunny skies. Good for soaring high above the earth. Shards of sunlight electrified the autumn yellow of big leaf maples. The varying shades of red of vine maple leaves punctuated the yellows along the highway. Large puffy white and gray clouds play hide and seek with the afternoon sun as I drive the hour to my destination- Deception Falls trail.

The Destination
Once I arrive I find the parking lot closed. Not to be defeated, I find a wide spot along the highway and pull off.

The trail is damp- fading greens and deep browns dominate the dark and cool forest. Why did I come here? I came deliberately. Thoreau's quote comes to mind- I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

I have come to find the part of my spirit that dwells in the wild and to leave behind the distress I have become.

This remnant ancient forest is quiet save for the water falls. Thundering through the granite troughs of rocks, the Tye River rushes on its never-ending journey to blend with the Skykomish River. Eons of rushing has carved its path. The water is wild, clear, and cold.

I have found a giant elder western red cedar to sit under. The bark of the cedar is thick with moist green mosses. Tiny droplets hang at the end of the moss threads in anticipation of dropping to the ground and nourishing the forest floor. How long has it stood sentinel in these woods? How did it escape the cut of the saw? Has it heard the call of the wolf or felt the claws of a grizzly? Did a spotted owl hunt from its branches or a fisher climb its trunk.

Calmness comes with every breath. I am close enough to hear the highway however the embrace of the forest takes over. Giant yellowing prickly leaves of devil's club tower over me and the remnant spotty green leaves of red huckleberry camouflage me from the trail. The air is of autumn freshness- cool, damp, and clean. The air is getting cold informing me that it is time to go.

As I reached my truck to leave a raven circled low over my head three times and landed in a tree across the highway. A couple of gronks and a soft call (that I answered) and it was on its way up the highway. Goodbye maybe?

Tan movement among tall brown grasses along the freeway edge. Head down, she hunts for dinner. Bright red and yellow vine maple leaves are her backdrop. I honk- she looks. A scraggly skinny coyote brightening my day. Unfortunately, the next thought is- Will her crumpled and mangled body lie at the edges of the asphalt? Fortunately, that has not occurred, so far. When I drove through tonight no coyote body was evident. I noticed a ravine carrying a fork of the Quilceda Creek running through here. She is safe if she stays in there.

I’m so tired of all the dead wildlife along our roads. And how many die when there’s no place to come back to? When their forest, grassland, wetland, or beaches are gone? As part of my job I do environmental reviews and permitting of roads projects (ironic?). Today we checked out a project from a couple of years ago next to an urbanized lake. It was a small wetland and open grassy area with non-native shrubs and native shrubs along the lake. To our disgust and surprise several huge houses had been built on this 1 or 2-acre piece of land. And they was no buffer between the houses and the lake. All the vegetation was gone- replaced with lawn, ornamental vegetation, and house. Another area we were looking at that is going to have a sidewalk constructed has a couple of small woodlands left. One of them was signed- soon to become a 10-lot subdivision. Does anyone think about what happens to the resident birds that depend upon the food and shelter of this lot? And what happens when the migratory birds come back to nest again? Do people realize they die? We’ve already chased out any semblance of true wildlife. Now the birds disappear one by one.

I remember a year or so ago when they cut down the forest I played in as a child, across from my parents house. My mom told me that birds were flying around in circles and calling. She’d never seen anything like it. It wasn’t a pristine old growth forest but it was 14 acres of forest, small wetlands, and grassy areas- a haven for birds and critters.

Who’s buying this behavior? Who’s buying these houses and supporting this behavior? The apathy and greed overwhelm my senses. I see very few standing up and no one really shouting- stop killing our wildlife, polluting our air and waters, destroying our soil. Environmental regulations have so many loopholes that rural areas will soon be clustered with common species and very few lees adaptive species will be left.

If you don’t support this behavior then do something!

Since my last entry the listserve I copied the criticism of Steve Irwin from lit up with discussions. The vast majority were in favor of Steve's behavior however, even some of those folks said he might have gone a bit too far now and then. There has also been many tributes to him. His great big heart was in the right place and he did do great things. Although, I still believe he went over the line grabbing critters just to show the camera. Even researchers regularly harass and harm wildlife- supposedly for the benefit of the population. How did Adolph and Olaus Murie study all those critters without radio collars, etc? I still think everyone who deals with animals of all species should handle them with great respect and for a darn good reason!

Life has been hectic. I am now applying to be on the Washington State Wolf Working Group. Seems the state is putting together a management plan for the day the federal government delists our wolves. Since no one knows how many live in the state, I would hope that delisting won't occur for quite some time. The committee will be made up of all facets of the public. It will be a challenging and exciting opportunity. Someone needs to speak for the wolves. My ego is fairly small so I tend to not get caught up in the grandiose beliefs of some of the larger enviro orgs.

When I worked on protecting the old growth forest and spotted owls I had my run-ins with those who lost sight of what we were doing. They were no longer speaking for the trees or the owls but themselves. It was sad to watch. Unfortunately, all that work and it appears spotted owls are slowly dieing off as are the marbled murrelets. Some of us predicted that we were too late. How many other critters will die because we are too late?

If we take a chance that we have time to implement changes for our actions such as global warming, will we already be too late? I believe we are already there. I hate to sound negative but the reality is we just don't know. We leave it to later generations to suffer through and deal with. Of course, this doesn't mean we can't start changing things now. No matter what it's important to do the right thing. As one of my favorite quotes says "Live simply so others may simply live."