I’m grateful The Columbian published my “Letter: Prepare for climate refugees [in Vancouver, WA]” September 9, 2022.
The climate situation has become like a doctor telling a patient: “You may get sick if you don’t change your energy diet.” followed by “You will get sick.” followed by this summer’s news, “In worst-case scenarios, you may not survive.”
Western red cedars, my favorite local trees, are dying in many areas likely from drought caused by climate change, according to scientists. Nathan Gilles of Columbia Insight wrote at The Register-Guard [in Eugene, OR] September 1, 2022, “To many Indigenous peoples, who used the trees for houses, clothes, weapons, tools, medicines, art and canoes, they’re known as the Tree of Life. [par break] They’ve been recorded to live for over 1,500 years. [par break] But these trees are now dying.” He added, “The dieback is widespread, and the cause appears to be climate change. What’s more, we now know that the dieback could be the beginning of the end for the species in many parts of the Pacific Northwest.”
When I was a writer-in-residence at Artsmith on Orcas Island, a trail plaque explained western red cedars slowly migrated north after the last ice age ended about 10,000 years ago. Serena Renner wrote at TheTyee.ca September 15, 2020, “While plant fossils show that a tree like red cedar has been growing around the northwest for as long as 50 million years, the species has only become widespread in the past 4,000 to 5,000 years — long after humans arrived in the region, says Richard Hebda, a paleontologist and adjunct associate professor at the University of Victoria. [par break] Coast Salish Oral History tells that before there was red cedar, there was a generous man. Whenever his people were in need, the man gave food and clothing. Recognizing the man’s good work, the Creator declared that when he died, a red cedar would grow where he was buried and continue to provide for the people. Red cedar did just that, co-evolving with First Nations and helping them build sophisticated societies of unparalleled wealth, abundance and ingenuity. [par break] Prior to cedar, canoes and homes on the coast were often built of Sitka spruce. But once abundant, mother cedar became the tree of choice at least 3,000 years ago. ‘Without the environment we live in, we are not who we are,’ Hebda says.”
Given that, it’s a great time for nonviolent creative action to protect who and what you love.
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