About 100 years

Margaret A. Swenson

March 30, 2023

The beautiful ponderosa pine forest at the edge of town by the marsh rang with song. High in the trees great blue herons nested, owls made homes in the branches and woodpeckers carved out places for their young. Blackbirds and bluebirds established residence as well as little birds who dwelled in the bushes under the trees.

Coveys of quail called out alarm when a threat was nearby.

Frogs held concert in shaded rock ponds.

Though silent, deer, cottontail rabbits, red fox and porcupine made trails to their homes in the forest. Butterflies, moths and winged ones flitted in patches of sunlight.

In the springtime, buttercups, blue-eyed grass, pristine white flowers of the amelanchier and wild iris sparkled in the forest.

The warm days of summer opened blossoms on wild strawberries, pink roses, chokecherry, snowberry and crabapple.

As fall loosened reddish pine needles their cover gave shelter to inhabitants of the forest.

And winter, winter showcased splendor unmatched on any Christmas Card. Snow flocked pines, glistening snow drifts and imaginary flat surfaces over rocky terrain were decorated with intricate etchings of brave little feet.

The forest at the edge of the town was a paradise for all things wild.

Then men with mean looking machines raped the forest. Gracious shade giving trees were no match for saws and excavators. Giant after giant fell to the ground. All that was left were bare rocks, raw gullies and scraggly trees. The forest at the edge of the town was gone. The marsh dried up and all creatures were either killed or forced to move on.

It was almost 100 years until the forest recovered. Birds and animals returned. The marsh ponds filled. Wind whistled through the trees. And buttercups once again sparkled in the dappled sunlight.

Then people in hunter’s clothes came with bows and arrows and shotguns.

They were not hunters. They were killers. They selected the biggest, strongest, most beautiful trees and began shooting.

Round after round and arrow after arrow they fired into the hearts of the trees. It took two years to kill some of the majestic pines and their remains were left to rot in the forest.

The flora was trampled.The animals and birds fled once again. Old Christmas trees, rat infested couches and garbage were strewn in the forest. The forest was disgraced.

Did the thoughtless people not know it would take about another 100 years for the pine forest to recover?