In the United States, the fate of ancient forests suspended in the presidential election

Mount Rainier National Park, Washington State (United States)

In Seattle and Portland, walking around for a day without seeing any reference to the forestry sector is like an obstacle course. One of the best-known beers around ? The Great Notion, inspired by a novel about the timber industry. When the Portland football team scores a goal ? The mascot, a lumberjack, cuts a tree trunk. And it's hard to wander through the hinterland without coming across one of those festivals where strong guys split a log with a single swing of an ax, balancing on a wire.

The environmentalist camp also has its say, in favor of the preservation of these century-old, sometimes even thousand-year-old forests. Recently, the Biden administration further restricted logging of old-growth forests and launched new management plans for nearly 130 national forests. But a return to power of Donald Trump would very likely call them into question, according to The Guardian. During his first term, the Republican re-authorized the exploitation of old-growth forests, opening nearly 2.8 million hectares of national forests to companies — a measure deemed illegal by a federal judge.

Among the defenders of these woods, Patrick Mazza, 72, fell in love with these forests in the 1970s: « I was in California, and I felt a humid wind coming from the north and calling me here. » He answered the call and found neon green woods, dense to cut with a knife, where everything overflows: the peaceful rainforest. It is in this that we find it, not far from Mount Rainier, an icy volcano dormant since the XIXᵉ century. The thick foam is soft, but the humidity pierces the bones. « It is a place which has a sacred air: we speak of a cathedral forest »details the septuagenarian, woodwind baritone. Here, the roots of the red cedars are as thick as oak trunks. As for their trunks, they sometimes rival in size those of SUV parked in the valley.

« The timber industry cuts everything it can »

These giants imposed themselves on Patrick Mazza as the fight of a lifetime. Present in the first struggles to save ancient forests in the 1980s, he still continues the fight, within the Troublemakers (the Troublemakers), a group of senior activists. « You see these dead trees ? They must not be removed, they are nourishing the future forest. It's a cycle. The timber industry cuts everything it can. »

Because if California experienced the gold rush, further north, it was the trees that made the white settlers rich, at the turn of the century. XXᵉ century. The forestry industry and the state quickly walked hand in hand. Between 1957 and 1965, the timber harvest on federal lands tripled. Johnny Cash provides the soundtrack of the era, anchoring the figure of the Oregon lumberjack in the imagination, with « Lumberjack »a hymn that the woodworkers sang together in the forests. The logging companies were then the queens of the northwest.

In the 1960s, logging on public lands exceeded that on private forests. According to the Oregon History Project, « federal forest managers then move from a role of guardian to active participant in the region's timber economy ». In response, environmentalists chained themselves to trees during the « Easter Massacre »in 1989, during which century-old giants were decimated by the US Forest Service, the federal forest management body. The duel between the loggers and the activists then made the television news.

« Public opinion began to grasp that an ancient tree was not just a potential beam, and that it was a waste »remembers Patrick Mazza. However, despite the outbursts, the environmentalists lost all their cases, or almost all, plunging the fight into an impasse.

« Save a lumberjack, eat an owl ! »

A bird came to their rescue: the northern spotted owl. It only lives in old forests, and this is what activists have exploited. Allied with scientists, they realized that if they wanted to save ancient forests, they had to prove that without them, this owl could not survive.

The bird has become a symbol of struggle. But for the industry, she was the target to be shot. A t-shirt became popular in Oregon: « Save a lumberjack, eat an owl ! » so proclaims the Timber Wars podcast, by journalist Aaron Scott. Pro-industry restaurants even offered fried owl on the menu (which wasn't really fried). At the White House, Bush Sr. also entered the arena, thundering as he was « time to make people more important than owls ».

But this time, environmentalists had the last word. The bird was added to the endangered species list in 1990. Four years later, Bill Clinton's plan protected 40 % of ancient trees around its nests. In the process, logging of public forests in the American West fell by more than 80%. % in twenty years.

The battle never ended, however. The oldest forests – their definition varies depending on the State – are partly protected, but the « legacy forests »the younger, inherited forests, which nevertheless contain trees that are already centuries old, are still exploited by the Forest Service.

Trees sold for millions of dollars

However, these woods constitute the thousand-year-old forests of the future, developed without human intervention, which makes them guardians of a unique ecological heritage, made up of multiple layers of canopy. More resistant to fires, they are also among the most efficient carbon sensors in the world, given the size of their trees.

Their ecological value is inestimable, but their price per cubic meter delights the State just as much. In Washington state, a recent sale of Douglas firs was estimated at more than $3 million, reports the Seattle Times. On the phone, Ryan Rodruck, spokesperson for the state's Department of Natural Resources, assures Reporterre that dealing with both sale and preservation is not antithetical. « We must keep in mind that these harvests bring money to public education »he comments.

In recent months, however, the machine has stalled. Sales have been suspended. The Troublemakers managed to get a rock stuck in the chainsaw. Their strategy ? Survey the plots to remove the visual markers that demarcate the areas for sale. « It worked ! We know what we risk, prison, potentially. It's a sacrifice »says Patrick Mazza. Actions about which Ryan Rodruck does not get angry: « They choose to vandalize our forests. Not only are they delaying the potential profits from sales, which are redistributed to our primary schools, but they are flouting our work. »

The fight is unequal and the Troublemakers know that each small victory is to be savored when it passes. Oregon and Washington State are still the states that produce the most wood: logging companies are still influential there, and their ties are strong with the states. Oregon funds a public institute that sounds like a pro-cutting lobby, the Oregon Forest Resource Institute (OFFER). Julie Woodward, director of forestry at the institute, assures that its mission is above all to show that « each age of the forest is important, from young trees to older ones ».

Which lumberjack in the White House ?

The future of these forests is therefore also at stake in the battle for the White House. Which voice will carry more ? No more protection or exploitation for the 130,000 km² of old forests on federal lands ? Global warming is weakening the forests of the northwest, making them more vulnerable to insect infestations. Right now, Douglas fir needles are turning red, and trees are dying at an unprecedented rate in Oregon.

Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, did not specifically address the issue of forests. For good reason: she devoted her campaign to « swing states »the pivotal states, which do not include those in the northwest. His party, however, is committed to reducing threats to « iconic ancient forests » during its 2024 summer convention.

« Trump could try his luck again [d’ouvrir à l’exploitation les forêts fédérales protégées]but he risks suffering another defeatassures Patrick Mazza. And he will always find Troublemakers in his path, if he wants to touch the ancient forests. » As he sits on his porch in Seattle, he says he still feels the call of the river forest: « That doesn't disappear over time. »