Gone

I went to the meeting proposing the Polallie Cooper Timber Sale on Mt. Hood.  The Forest Service says:  Fire suppression, buffer zones, thinning.  On their maps, I see:  Logging.  Roads.  Three thousand acres.  Through hiking, biking, and ski trails.  The wild and scenic East Fork Corridor.  Northern Spotted Owl habitat.  Watershed.

The trees in question didn't show up to the meeting.  Maybe they don't care.  Or maybe... Maybe they didn't come because they are rooted to the ground, their root systems reaching deep into the earth, interconnected with each other, and with the fungal mycelia with whom they share nutrients.  Roots holding the soil, holding water, holding the mountain.  Roots taking nourishment into their tree bodies, through their veins, all the way up to their needles, their branch fingers reaching into the sky, landing pads for flying squirrels.  Their branches home to the spotted owls who eat the squirrels.  The undisturbed vastness of the canopy the only reason the owls and other creatures can thrive here.  The trees, their solid bodies taking up space on this planet.  On this mountain.  Next to this river.  Giving shade, giving shelter, giving oxygen, giving, giving, giving... Gone.