Why are forests important to you?

I grew up in the urban forest of Brooklyn, NY, where experiencing the great outdoors was a jaunt in Prospect Park or a run across the Brooklyn Bridge. It wasn’t until a fateful father-son raft trip, taken shortly after I graduated college, that I was captivated by the complex beauty and mystery of Western U.S. forests. I took a solo trail run through a side canyon to a natural hot spring; in that journey, I felt closer to God than I ever had in a place of worship. It was in that moment that I resolved to devote my life to protecting the environment. Since then, no other habitat moves me quite as much as a healthy forest.

What makes PFT’s work important?

Their history as pioneering innovators in both stewarding forests and in influencing the policies that reward landowners for stewarding their land has influenced the work of countless other conservation groups, foresters, and the rural economies that depend on healthy forests. And their focus on the Pacific NW is critical as the forests from Northern California up through British Columbia are the greatest forest carbon sinks on the planet and home to critical ecosystem services and biodiversity essential for human prosperity.

What worries you about forests in this time of climate change?

I live in Portland, Oregon, and am blessed to live next to Forest Park, an intact forest system that is over 2,000 hectares. It is a beautiful resource, yet over the past dozen years, I have seen how the effects of more extreme weather diminish the flora as well as animal species.

What gives you hope?

I see people every day who are starting to get it about climate change and forests. I see my neighbors staying vigilant about managing fire risk and knowing the value of the Forest Park to our quality of life. I see state and national policies highlighting biodiversity — an issue that transcends politics and helps protect forests and other natural systems that sustain us. I see it in PFT’s leadership, staff, and board, all of whom cultivate a “radical middle” that allows us to unite across aisles to make a difference. PFT is THE cultivator of this radical middle space, building bridges across the Pacific NW enabling us to tackle the climate and biodiversity challenge that threatens to undermine humanity’s prosperity. Our collective work gives me hope, and it will continue beyond my short time on this earth. Let’s get to it!