Caring for our home
21/03/22 04:01
People have lived in the area we now call home for thousands of years. The Lummi, Nooksack, Samish, and Semiahmoo tribes were coastal, Salish-speaking people who lived along the rivers that flow into the sea. They moved around the area during the year, with many people occupying seasonal fish camps depending on whether they were harvesting salmon from the rivers or shellfish from the beach areas.
European explorers visited the area traveling by ship in the late 1700s. Spanish explorers laid claim to this area in 1775. Later the area was claimed by Russia, England and finally the United States. The 1792 Vancouver expedition of the British Navy was responsible for many of the local place names, including Bellingham Bay and Birch Bay. The first European settlers to stay in the area were fur traders. Hudson’s Bay Company established outposts for the fur trade throughout the area.
By the mid 1800s settlers moving north from California began to harvest and mill timber from the forests that covered much of the landscape. It seemed to those early settlers that there would be an unlimited supply of timber to cut and sell. The Fraser River gold rush of 1858 just north of her in Canada, brought over 75,000 people to the area. Local industries to support the expanding population included coal mining, lumber mills, fish canneries, and ship building.
The economy of the area began to make a shift from subsistence to export. Lumber milled in the area was loaded onto ships and exported. Fish was canned and exported. Relationships with the indigenous people deteriorated.
Over the course of the 20th century, timber harvest became one of the chief industries of the area. Two major oil refineries provided additional jobs.
Because the natural resources were so abundant, people lived for decades as if there were no limits on the capacity of the land to have products extracted. Old growth forests were cut and replaced with faster growing trees. Forest harvest cycles shortened to the point where some areas now produce trees that are harvested in as short as 30 to 50 year cycles. The capacity of the land to produce wealth to be extracted, however, is limited. It is now clear that the practices of the 19th and 20th centuries cannot be sustained.
The Nooksack River watershed is the largest drainage in the area, covering roughly 830 square miles in Washington and British Columbia. Commercial timber companies own about 14% of the land in the drainage. The impact of commercial timber harvesting on the amount of water in the river is dramatic. It has been estimated that stream flows in the South Fork of the Nooksack River has been reduced by as much as 25% due to timber harvesting. This decrease is exacerbated by global warming which results in less snowpack. The decreased river flows result in warmer water in the river which decreases the spawning of Salmon. It is now clear that the extraction of timber is threatening much more than just the appearance of forested hillsides.
The local economy, however, leans heavily on forest products. Large companies such as Sierra Pacific Industries provide jobs and tax support for the local economy. Public owned lands are harvested to fund school construction and other public resources. Major shifts in forest management practices have a huge effect on the local economy.
We are among the newest residents of the area. We arrived long after settlers had transformed the economy and the landscape. Even though we think our impact is small, we live in a timber-framed house, eat local seafood, and are connected to public water and sewer systems. We dive our cars and burn fuel from the refineries. We participate in the economy and use roads and other public services. We are not alone. The population of the area continues to grow. New housing developments are springing up as the demand for houses continues to exceed the supply.
It is too simplistic for people like us to sit back and blame others for major environmental issues such as stream flow and water temperature. We participate in the extractive economy. Major policy changes such as a shift in the timber harvest practices from 30 to 50 year harvests to 80 to 100 year harvests would benefit the overall health of the river systems, but will also have an effect on the local tax base and employment.
It is complex. Simple solutions carry unintended consequences.
In our church we are focusing attention on issues of environment and climate this year. Our all-church read is Climate Church, Climate World by Jim Antal. Groups in the church are reading and discussing the book together. Author events have been scheduled for May and November. We are learning how it is important for communities of faith to be engaged in working for change to protect the environment. Our conversations, however, are teaching us more about how complex the issues surrounding the environment are.
Clearly we can all learn to consume less of the resources of the world. Paying attention to the purchases we make and learning about the impacts of personal decisions are part of what is required of us. We are getting better at reducing our consumption and at recycling our waste. It is evident that we can make big changes and have a big effect by being careful with personal decisions. More, however, is required to begin the larger process of changing public policy and shifting industries.
As a pastor, I saw my job as speaking to my congregation, not as speaking for my congregation. I was careful not to try to represent the church in the public arena. I learned to shy away from making statements on behalf of the church. But it is clear that faithful people need to take a public stance and speak out by testifying before the legislature and bringing our faith to bear on public policy. If we are to protect the water, we must develop the capacity to involve others in our discussions. Simply educating ourselves and our congregation is only one part of the process.
As I continue to learn more about this new place where we live, I become more appreciative of the values and the voices of the indigenous people. The Salish people have great wisdom about the importance of caring for the water, the forests and the fish. It is clear that along with speaking out, we need to develop our skills of listening to our neighbors. Even though we are newcomers, we can see that we are all in this together.
May the conversation continue and may we not shy away from complex issues.
European explorers visited the area traveling by ship in the late 1700s. Spanish explorers laid claim to this area in 1775. Later the area was claimed by Russia, England and finally the United States. The 1792 Vancouver expedition of the British Navy was responsible for many of the local place names, including Bellingham Bay and Birch Bay. The first European settlers to stay in the area were fur traders. Hudson’s Bay Company established outposts for the fur trade throughout the area.
By the mid 1800s settlers moving north from California began to harvest and mill timber from the forests that covered much of the landscape. It seemed to those early settlers that there would be an unlimited supply of timber to cut and sell. The Fraser River gold rush of 1858 just north of her in Canada, brought over 75,000 people to the area. Local industries to support the expanding population included coal mining, lumber mills, fish canneries, and ship building.
The economy of the area began to make a shift from subsistence to export. Lumber milled in the area was loaded onto ships and exported. Fish was canned and exported. Relationships with the indigenous people deteriorated.
Over the course of the 20th century, timber harvest became one of the chief industries of the area. Two major oil refineries provided additional jobs.
Because the natural resources were so abundant, people lived for decades as if there were no limits on the capacity of the land to have products extracted. Old growth forests were cut and replaced with faster growing trees. Forest harvest cycles shortened to the point where some areas now produce trees that are harvested in as short as 30 to 50 year cycles. The capacity of the land to produce wealth to be extracted, however, is limited. It is now clear that the practices of the 19th and 20th centuries cannot be sustained.
The Nooksack River watershed is the largest drainage in the area, covering roughly 830 square miles in Washington and British Columbia. Commercial timber companies own about 14% of the land in the drainage. The impact of commercial timber harvesting on the amount of water in the river is dramatic. It has been estimated that stream flows in the South Fork of the Nooksack River has been reduced by as much as 25% due to timber harvesting. This decrease is exacerbated by global warming which results in less snowpack. The decreased river flows result in warmer water in the river which decreases the spawning of Salmon. It is now clear that the extraction of timber is threatening much more than just the appearance of forested hillsides.
The local economy, however, leans heavily on forest products. Large companies such as Sierra Pacific Industries provide jobs and tax support for the local economy. Public owned lands are harvested to fund school construction and other public resources. Major shifts in forest management practices have a huge effect on the local economy.
We are among the newest residents of the area. We arrived long after settlers had transformed the economy and the landscape. Even though we think our impact is small, we live in a timber-framed house, eat local seafood, and are connected to public water and sewer systems. We dive our cars and burn fuel from the refineries. We participate in the economy and use roads and other public services. We are not alone. The population of the area continues to grow. New housing developments are springing up as the demand for houses continues to exceed the supply.
It is too simplistic for people like us to sit back and blame others for major environmental issues such as stream flow and water temperature. We participate in the extractive economy. Major policy changes such as a shift in the timber harvest practices from 30 to 50 year harvests to 80 to 100 year harvests would benefit the overall health of the river systems, but will also have an effect on the local tax base and employment.
It is complex. Simple solutions carry unintended consequences.
In our church we are focusing attention on issues of environment and climate this year. Our all-church read is Climate Church, Climate World by Jim Antal. Groups in the church are reading and discussing the book together. Author events have been scheduled for May and November. We are learning how it is important for communities of faith to be engaged in working for change to protect the environment. Our conversations, however, are teaching us more about how complex the issues surrounding the environment are.
Clearly we can all learn to consume less of the resources of the world. Paying attention to the purchases we make and learning about the impacts of personal decisions are part of what is required of us. We are getting better at reducing our consumption and at recycling our waste. It is evident that we can make big changes and have a big effect by being careful with personal decisions. More, however, is required to begin the larger process of changing public policy and shifting industries.
As a pastor, I saw my job as speaking to my congregation, not as speaking for my congregation. I was careful not to try to represent the church in the public arena. I learned to shy away from making statements on behalf of the church. But it is clear that faithful people need to take a public stance and speak out by testifying before the legislature and bringing our faith to bear on public policy. If we are to protect the water, we must develop the capacity to involve others in our discussions. Simply educating ourselves and our congregation is only one part of the process.
As I continue to learn more about this new place where we live, I become more appreciative of the values and the voices of the indigenous people. The Salish people have great wisdom about the importance of caring for the water, the forests and the fish. It is clear that along with speaking out, we need to develop our skills of listening to our neighbors. Even though we are newcomers, we can see that we are all in this together.
May the conversation continue and may we not shy away from complex issues.
