The old-growth expert and the forests he vowed to protect

When Jerry Franklin was just a boy, he vowed to protect the forests and trees he saw as his friends. During his career as a forest ecologist, his research into the unique attributes of old growth Douglas fir forests led to the protection of millions of acres of ancient forests in the Pacific Northwest.
(Produced by Lauren Frohne / The Seattle Times)
Read more: www.seattletimes.com/pacific-...
This story was originally published July 18, 2021
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Watch more from Seattle Times Video: seattletimes.com/video

[@thereissomecoolstuff]

You have to find away for this to go viral. This man, his pure love for the forest and his integrity is something I needed to see tonight. Occasionally you get one right..

[@outsideview9052]

Speaking out loud to the person or entity that you are accountable to (God, Wife, or trees in this mans case) is very important and fulfilling. This man describes it pretty well.

[@kevinconnelly9277]

Jerry is a legend. Thank you for all you've down for forests. Its an honor to have Jerry's guidance on our Pacific Forest Trust Board of Directors.

[@robertfallows1054]

Brought tears to my eyes. Humility and accountability. If only we all had even just a portion of what this man has.

[@GuantanamoBayBarbie3]

I love your heart for Douglas Fir & old growth forests. I grew up on a farm across from a beautiful stand of Doug Fir that were about 100 years old. It had been logged once before when the Willamette Valley was first settled. There was a stump amongst the trees that was width of a rather large round kitchen table. Maybe 5-6 ft across? It must've been a giant. It was magical when the wind blew through those trees. I cried when they cut them all down.💔🥺💔

[@chompers11]

😂 a 5' doug fir isnt a giant. That is average. Ga damn humans memories are so bad. Cut down the forests in 100 years and rewrite history. So sad and pathetic

[@girly456ish]

Thank you for protecting our old growth forests when they needed it most ❤

[@ronaldhays1391]

"We need to be thinking more and more about a partnership. Our job is to collaborate with nature." Nature is challenging us to hear this call!

[@ricosaurus]

Beautiful. I went to a number of Dr. Franklin's lectures in the 80s and 90s. He was a dynamic, passionate speaker that managed to maintain a reputation as an objective scientist as well. I suspect that some of his pioneering ideas on New Forestry were abused in order to get the cut out, but at least he convinced many that an uneven aged stand provided ecological services that even aged tree farms cannot. Clearly his wisdom has continued ro grow since those days.

[@johncollins1255]

Nice to see a news outlet reporting on something that matters.

[@StressRUs]

"Most fundamentally it has to do with humility...", says it all. I have always been deeply in love with big or small but very old trees. When I ask about where to find the old growth forest(s) down here in southern/eastern Ohio in the Wayne National Forest, I just get blank stares. No wonder these dear folks are so alienated from nature and God. Thank you, God, and please forgive them (us) for they (we) know not what they (we) do. Thank you, Mr. Franklin, and the National Forest Service.

[@debrapaulino918]

Indeed

[@andrewmantle7627]

Thank you Mr. Franklin.

[@lackofliberty2112]

Thank you Seattle times for supporting videos like this.. I'm really enjoyed this.

[@roykropp155]

I've read several of his research papers. To listen to the expression of his feelings for the forest is rewarding. Thak you Dr. Franklin for your gift to the forest.

[@zeldathewelder]

I remember reading this when it was published. It was very memorable.

[@donnahinton4297]

Thank You

[@KingsMom831]

This is such a great video, more importantly, the message. Thank you for this!

[@HogMan2022]

You are awesom, Mr. Franklin! 💪🙋🙏

[@deannamadrigal7503]

Thank you For your wisdom, your heart and taking care of these majestic beings. Yes, we all have to answer to a higher source. Blessings upon you 🙏

[@Britbec]

What a beautiful and vital mission this man dedicated his life to. Thank you for sharing.

[@Sq7Arno]

Great man. Great life. I was touched by his innate instinct to be accountable. In nature nothing exists alone. We are part of nature too.

[@peasinourthyme5722]

Thank you for this beautiful report! I loved listening to this wise and humble old man, and hearing of his respect for and love of the forest and the natural wolrd. A great ambassadour!

[@nnayram64]

🙏❤️. Thank you sir😊

[@Roger-go6jc]

These are the great wise men. They have always been there, just drowned out a bit with the noise of progress and the loud ones who tell us that is what is more important. Jerry's talk of partnership echoes through time with the Native Americans of his land, my First Nations, and a lot of Indigenous families from around the world. He is a true teacher, Elder, Uncle. He lives to rectify the problem of "The Circle Is Broken". I feel his sacred heart beating, and it is good.

[@beverlydiltz2604]

You had me tear up. I feel the same way. Some people do not without enough trees less oxygen to breath from.

[@forestbracht5278]

This is absolutely incredible.

[@jimmierodgers1597]

💛 Humility 💛 consistent accountability 💛partnership 💛collaboration 💛conversation 💛

[@emilgiese]

A true Forrest ambassador! Thankyou!

[@briannacooper2628]

This is beautiful. I live in the PNW and I love seeing our biome celebrated and preserved so faithfully.

[@twoowlsregenerativemedia159]

❤

[@eh3477]

This is Doctor Jerry Franklin, Professor at University of Washington, and previously at Oregon State University. He was also a Forest Ecologist for the US Forest Service. He was a leading voice on the 1990s Northwest Forest Plan, one of tbe first public documents to show that clearcutting old growth forests was ecologically unsustainable, backed by ecological science. Hes also authored many scientific papers, reports, and several books. And is an award winning scientist who has many more accomplishments. This is a sweet short story, but I wonder why Seattle Times omitted his title, accomplishments, and details on the Northwest Forest Plan, as well as the context in which it was written.

[@DanielF3024]

Obrigado

[@marianfrances4959]

Awesome man! 👍😎🇨🇦🌲🌿🌲🌿🌲🌿🌲🌿🌲✌

[@TerraVidaAcademy-bx3cr]

Really thankful for people like Mr. Franklin who have dedicated their lives to studying and protecting our forests. Every time I see a clearcut it rips my heart out. How can we humans allow this kind of devastation to these ecosystems? There is a better way. 75 year rotations with uneven age forest management is the answer.

[@HubertofLiege]

Not on the west side of the cascades

[@chompers11]

????? There is massive documented biodiversity loss in less than 300 year old rotations. How are people still saying this clown shit

[@LeaHawkins-Johnson]

Beautiful

[@maybeerainmaybeesnow]

Accountability and commitment ..... yes.

[@chrishouseman4781]

The destruction of these ancient forests is the epitome of human ignorance

[@joepalladino3467]

Brilliant

[@CaitlinMather-pk5wm]

Here here!

[@MoonMistZero]

A hero

[@jimmierodgers1597]

💛 Relationship WITH 💛

[@alvinosullivan2804]

Good Man!

[@debrapaulino918]

Education must begin very early.

[@Sound_of_the_trees]

save old growth!

[@tomgnyc]

Forests are not renewable. At least not in the short term. Once you cut it it takes 500+ years to regenerate.

[@HubertofLiege]

Why do they have a fifty year harvest schedule?

[@chompers11]

@@HubertofLiege because they are clowns only interested in short term profit. Was that a serious question? Honestly can't tell

[@HubertofLiege]

@@chompers11 they do seem to renew them

[@evanseyfried]

@@HubertofLiegeI think tomgnyc means the old growth forest isn’t renewable on a human timescale. It takes at least 500 years to re-establish a legitimate old growth forest after it’s destroyed. Doug fir plantations are slightly better than nothing, but are abysmal in terms of biodiversity.

[@jimmierodgers1597]

💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

[@SaunieHolloway]

TreesMatter

[@devdeuce93]

Plant something !

[@debrapaulino918]

🥲💯❤️

[@dawnhughes9942]

I've worked as a tree health care and preservation specialist for the last 2 decades. We are losing the battle. I have learned to feel so worthless and unwanted and alienated. I spend all my free time with my family - the forest and I have become afriad of humans. No one cares anymore as far as I can tell. Sorry old man.

[@emead528]

I don’t believe that. I think the tide has turned. We have many champions for our forests and riparian ecosystems. This man has helped spread knowledge and compassion for these forests. 🌳it gives hope to younger scientists and people who spend their lives protecting the earth.

[@robertfallows1054]

Some days I see one viewpoint and other days I see the other but I don’t think we have any chance if we don’t hope some how that things can turn around.

[@TerraVidaAcademy-bx3cr]

You are right. We humans are so very destructive ... It is part of our nature to destroy. We know all of the solutions but greed will always win out. I personally will never give up fighting for nature, but understand this is not going to end well.

[@chompers11]

@@TerraVidaAcademy-bx3cr yet you advocate for logging every 75 years.. you are a major part of the problem

[@340wbymag]

In America, a forest has no value until someone cuts it down and turns it into boards and paper. We have destroyed almost every acre of forest and replaced it with monoculture tree farms. It disgusts me. Forestry is a sad joke in our country today.

[@HubertofLiege]

That’s not true, you can drive a short distance and still see preserved old growth forest

[@340wbymag]

@@HubertofLiege Yes, we have about a quarter-acre of old growth forest left along with hundreds of square miles of clearcuts here in the Siuslaw Forest. The mountains have been stripped clean over and over, sprayed with insecticides and defoliants annually, and the trees are clearcut on a short-term rotation. Forestry in Oregon SUCKS!!!! I live here and see the constant stream of log trucks, the clearcuts, and the way the mountains are abused. It is disgraceful.

[@HubertofLiege]

@@340wbymag majority of Oregon forest is federally owned. There are millions of acres set aside, millions that have been preserved , just not in your back yard. Houses are built in urban and rural areas, tree farms grow trees for consumers outside that, and parks and preserves hold the old growth ecosystems beyond those. There’s just no roads in them as they are “pristine”, you have to walk or know what to look for.

[@340wbymag]

@@HubertofLiege So, the Siuslaw "Forest" covers about 630,000 acres of land. Tell me how much of that land has NOT been clearcut. I can't provide an accurate number but can say that we have locally only about 160 acres left of old growth forest in the coastal mountains. That's it. That's the extent of our forest. Just about everything else has been clearcut. Old trees are as rare as hen's teeth in the coastal mountains. I love that some folks are doing their best to protect what is left, but the timber companies are a disgrace.

[@chompers11]

@@HubertofLiege you are a massive clown lmao

[@JudeSpurlin-pg7ri]

The "old growth" forests proliferated throughout the period when the atmospheric levels of CO2 was much HIGHER than the current level and the mean temperatures of the earth were higher.

[@gbipit1]

Where did you get your degree from ? What an insult to The Forestry profession saying foresters don’t know about old growth. By the way trees don’t hear . Management and preservation are two different things wise use of lands for the benefit of mankind is what’s needed. Locking up everything is not the answer either

[@conorreynolds9739]

I’m a forester, and when he was in his prime- 1960s -90s - foresters didn’t have a handle on the complex ecology of old growth forests, not to mention an idea of what logging in streams would do to fish habitat, or what operations on wetland soils would do to future productivity. Jerry Franklin has a degree in forestry from OSU, he got his phd from Washington State, and he taught a generation of foresters forest ecology. He is not a preservationist, I have his book “Ecological Forest Management” on the shelf.

[@marianfrances4959]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[@chompers11]

Goofy as hell to think that a degree will help you understand the value of not logging. University of Washington is a massive supporter of weyerhaeuser and their logging. They support the current practices and benefit from it

[@chompers11]

@@conorreynolds9739 this is so corny. White dudes waving their hands around saying "well no one knew that taking everything would destroy everything". Lmaoooo yes they did quit trying to rewrite history and own up. Yall doing the SAME thing as they did. You are still on their team. Wake up you clown

[@gbipit1]

@@chompers11 Next time you need surgery or dentist or professional ask for one with no Degree or experience

[@extremepedestrian]

🫡