Mysteries of the spruce forest

Mysteries of the spruce forest, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

I can only imagine what the primeval forests of the Pacific northwest were like before the European invasion of the continent. When I was a small child there were still some pristine forests in the coast range of Oregon. They're all gone now and all we have left are some patches of old growth scattered amongst the checkerboard of secondary and tertiary growth plantations.

When I encounter one of these old growth groves the hairs on the back of my neck rise up, and I feel a thrill of adventure in imagining what's lurking under the ferns and in the understory layers. We need our forests to be intact as shelters and cradles for biodiversity. Maybe mankind will eventually learn how to balance civilization with nature. One can hope.