Clean, drinkable, sediment free water is precious. Much of Pacific County depends on the rain that falls on the forests of the Willapa Hills to provide our drinking water. Meanwhile, our weather has been trending hotter and drier. Rain patterns are changing and rain is coming at different times of year. Sometimes it fails to fall when it’s needed most. And then when it does fall, it can be a deluge. We can no longer depend on our old normal. In Washington, we are now in a state wide drought emergency, primarily because our snow pack is so scant, but also because many of our reservoirs are very low.

Here in Pacific County, our main reservoirs are the forests themselves. Mature healthy forests provide many ecosystem services that young tree plantations simply cannot provide. Mature forests soils have developed over the decades, dropping limbs, logs, and leaves to the forest floor. The trees, and the fallen limbs and logs are draped in moss, and forest floor sprouts ferns, wildflowers, berries, and more moss, all of which add their detritus to the deep forest soils.

When you walk on these moss covered soils, it is like walking on a six foot deep sponge. You feel yourself sinking in and buoyed up at the same time. You can easily imagine this deep record of living time beneath your feet. But you can only imagine what is down there, because the natural sponge is too deep for your feet to reach the subsoil.

These deep soils function just like the sponges we use in our homes. As does the moss that drapes everything. The roots of the trees, ferns, and other plants, and the mycorrhizal fungi that helps join the plants to this living soil — drastically reduce the power of the rain. Together, this living system reduces erosion, and absorbs and filters water. Living forest soils — by all of these actions — reduce flooding and sedimentation and allow clean clear water to flow into our streams, rivers, bay, into our ground water and wells, and into our municipal supplies, for weeks and months after the rain has ceased.

Clear cutting the watershed one depends on, and even to a lesser extent selectively cutting, not only removes the trees; it destroys these amazing and rare soils. When these deep soils are churned and compacted by heavy equipment, and exposed to sunlight, they begin to oxidize. Their structure and function as a sponge and a filter is destroyed. And the soil begins to dry out, turn to dust, and blow in the wind. When it rains the soil dissolves into sediment, or heaven forbid, it slides.

How do we calculate the risk? With both the increasing incidents of drought in the Pacific Northwest, and the increasing risk of extreme rainfall events which can cause massive mud slides; baring the soil of the watersheds we depend on seems fool hardy at best. We should try to find a way to save the forests of our most important watersheds if we can. Let’s try, please.

Thank you for at least thinking about it.

HARVEST McCAMPBELL

Raymond