Good Stewards Look At Forest, See More Than Trees

One morning in early December, I was walking up a gradual slope in an open ponderosa pine forest. The ground was covered with about 2 inches of new snow. I continually scanned the trees around me, striping the trunks of selected trees with blue paint.

I am a forester on the Spokane Indian Reservation, and marking timber for timber sales is part of my job.

This time of year, the forest is usually silent, and the only sounds I hear are my feet crunching on the snow and my breathing. However, I suddenly was aware of another sound. It was faint, barely noticeable. Straight overhead, way above, geese were passing over.

I listened: no honking, just the thin, pulsing whistle of wings cutting through the air. The sound was so faint that the usual racket of honking would have obscured it. But not a single call was made by these birds. They were heading south, flying fast, all business.

Hundreds of geese in ragged lines streamed above. This passing lasted 20 seconds or so, accompanied only by the sound of wind on wings. The last of the geese finally disappeared, and the whistle faded off.

I commonly hear geese while working outdoors. But this was the first time I had witnessed hundreds of birds pass without so much as a honk and had heard the sound of the wings.

I am privileged to work on lands where the welfare of wildlife and the integrity of wildlife habitat are important management objectives. The Spokane Tribe relies on timber income, but tribal members also value native plants and animals. The tribe’s approach to timber management allows both the harvest of forest products and conservation of wildlife and water resources. It is the responsibility of the forestry staff to balance these objectives.

I wish more lands were being managed as if wildlife mattered. The patterns of wildlife use in our region probably are thousands of years old. As we log, construct highways and build subdivisions, how much thought is being given to how those patterns are being affected?

I believe it is possible for humans and wildlife to coexist here - they have been doing so for at least 10,000 years. However, in this era of intense demand for land and resources, it is becoming more difficult. We need to develop a new awareness and a new ethic with regard to the land and our fellow inhabitants.

Ted Hensold is a 41-year-old resident of Tum Tum, Wash.

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