It’s peak mushroom spring in Western Washington, and the finds this year are truly record breaking. It might just be my timing, but this is the year of Boletes. I’ve had no chantrelles, but Porcinis are abundant, yes, abundant. It’s a first for me, but I’ll not complain. We’re harvesting, cooking, and drying what we find, gratitude to the mushrooms for all the beautiful harvest. King Boletes are an amazing find, and they were good sized and bug free- wow! The giant below may look a little past, especially with such yellowing pores beneath the cap, but the stipe was solid, and the tan leather cap was like a fresh loaf of of bread when sliced. Always peel off a mature pore to remove a sponge of moisture that, once cooked, resembles under-cooked egg.
A mahogany velvet cap signals Aureoboletus mirabilis is at hand. It’s red striped stipe (stem) stands out too, making the ID of this mushroom easy in our neck of the woods. Remember that mushroom identification on this blog is specific to The Pacific Northwest- Western Washington. Boletes in this area are a great species to know, and safe- but only once you know exactly what you are harvesting, as with all mushroooms, and some look alike. There are no “kill you” species of bolete in our area, and the toxic ones are easy to ID with understanding of staining discoloration, smell tests, and even some tongue tasting- but that’s some high level shrooming knowledge, so go out with your local expert.
Boletus regineus is another fabulous bolete for your eating enjoyment. This queen of the forest floor is often hard to spot and easy to overlook if you hunt color alone. Shape, texture, habitat- there are so many characteristics in mushroom identifying. Age is also crucial, as many species of fungi morph drastically from button to full cap extension. Knowing how a specific species develops through it’s lifecycle helps immensely in the field. For boletes, seeing the cap flipped up, like an over-pushed umbrella turned inside out, means the flesh will be mush and the stem hollowed out by enthusiastic insects. Those mushrooms are best left in situ, as they’ve been releasing good spores and are not good eating.
All of my mushrooming this year was done in tandem with deer hunting. Driving from one sit to another, I would sometimes catch a glimpse of a large cap popping up out of the embankment by the roadside (a not busy rural roadside). Stopping to check who was growing around always yielded a reward. After a day of good hunting, a seat full of mushrooms rewards a day in the field, even without harvesting a deer. To have found so many boletes is a first for me, and I’m so grateful there was time to follow out these rich discoveries in the foothill forests of The Central Cascades.
Our surviving chinquapin Castanea pumila, has produced an abundance of nuts this year, 2023, and we’re happy to have a glimpse at one long term species survival in our long term mixed nut and fruit groves. Though the chinquapin is more like a beech nut, the seeds are still a possible gleaning food, and wildlife larder. This deciduous hard wood tree with edible nut is adapted to hotter summers and colder winters, and has, so far, acclimated to wetter weather with little complaint. It’s even outpacing a nearby red oak. This species is not meant to grow huge, but the success so far encourages more propagation.
Drought tolerance, food crop, seasonal canopy, zone hardiness- all these aspects go into selecting the right cultivars for a climate change future. We’re glad this species is thriving after the initial five year establishing time used to determine initial success, but blights, pests ,extreme weather events, and more can hinder or expel these experiments in decades to come. Keep in mind how long it takes tree species to mature, and all that could happen along the way. EEC Forest Stewardship welcomes the chinquapin, but it’s one of many but bearing deciduous tree species we’re planting to diversify our food forest and plant an abundant future.
After a year off due to drought, the mycology of our Cascades is off to a great start. There are so many flushes up with the rains, Mycena and Agaricus, along with Tricholoma, Pluteus- ok ok, what kinds are they and can I eat them? No! Never eat a mushroom unless you have confirmed with a local expert- and what that might look like?
We meet up for a walk in my greater backyard and find specimens of this mushroom in the woods for hours until you can tell me 3 other dangerous look alikes and why you should not choose to harvest and eat this mushroom alone- or teach others to. Or you become a neighbor and spend a decade learning this place to become a little more familiar. I’m not an expert, but I’ll learn with you.
Polypores are some of my favorites, and they are usually to be found in our temperate rainforests year-round. These are the wood eating species, and the most common are bracket fungi. Red belted conks, artist conks, horse hoof fungus- these are all saprophytic types that are very unappetizing, but often hold rich nutrient density and medicinal qualities. Don’t think you can just pry them off a log and chew them up- extracting the helpful chemicals takes some know how, but in a pinch, you can steep them in hot water to make tea. This will at least give you some benefit, but it won’t cure cancer.
Another fun shaped mycological friend of the forest looks better suited to the ocean. Coral mushrooms come in a few different colors, and some are edible, but not exceptionally delicious, so I usually let them be. It’s fun to get in close to these marvelous shapes, transporting yourself to an under water forest floor. Club moss strings along nearby, like kelp. Keep an eye out for these terrestrial aquarium delights and swim on in for a closer look.
Our next species is the typical mushroom we all knew as children, from video games to cartoon shows, the classic red and white poke-a-dot cap with white stem is the quintessential fungal character that comes to mind. You will not find any power up toadstools moving across the landscape, but you will find amanitas of all kinds and colors, and yes, there is a red and white one, which the fantasy mushroom takes it’s persona from.
I’ve always been impressed by these beauties, but also weary. Agaricus, where many of our more edible species (like the button mushroom), look almost identical to a few fatally toxic amanita cousins when young. This is why I do not harvest white mushrooms with a veil under any circumstances. The only truly kill you species in The Central Cascades of Western Washington contain mostly Amanita family relatives. It is very important to remain weary and not get experimental in mushrooming. However, there is a lot of misguided fear around mycology, and by learning more about the mushrooms themselves, helps us set better boundaries about the hazards so we can better enjoy the fun and tasty.
Peeking out modestly from the moss is a fine looking russula. This genus of mushroom is adorable and prolific in our woodlands. Yes, some are edible, no, none will kill you- at worst you get a peppery burning taste, at worst, an upset tummy, so it’s not a recommended edible delectable. How do you know it’s a russula? The most exciting way to test is throwing one against an obliging trunk to see what happens. If the mushroom fruit shatters like safety glass on impact, you have a russula. Well, you had a russula. There are a lot of species in this genus, but none will kill you. Where russulas roam, chantrelles are not far, so I use this friend as a signal of timing and habitat conducive to chantrelles.
Frozen, but still good, these funnel chantrelles are holding up at high altitude as the cold sets in. Some mushrooms can withstand the cold, or even thrive in it, while others melt into goo when the hard frosts come. The mushroom spring has been quite the bonanza this year, and continues through our wet months with gusto. Keep documenting, examining, and reading up on all the diversity and originality to be found in the fungal kingdom. More writing to come on great finds, kitchen prep, and feasting to come.
In our introduction to extraction for green technology, we focused on cobalt in Democratic Republic of Congo and Finland. Now we’ll turn our attention to another critical metal for our departure from oil- copper. Think of all the cables and cords used for electric plug in. All the batteries, screens, and electrics need copper. We do mine a lot of it here in the USA, but most comes from Chile. Here in North America, there are some great EPA standards in place to help- help mitigate pollution. But as we all learned in the last article, other nations without oversight are vulnerable to abuse. In Chile, copper extraction is nationalized- along with lithium, and human rights violations run rampant, while buyers of the mined resource continue to claim they follow strict standards- standards not followed in Chile.
Because people being mistreated elsewhere usually falls on the def ears of privileged consumer circles enjoying eco-friendly lives, perhaps the idea that these same toxic pollutants will come to us in future might encourage some attention. Extraction will continue for at least another 20 years to produce the demanded metal for energy transition plans in developed nations. The import of what we don’t mine ourselves will only increase exposure to breaking down materials, which cause many cancers and birth defects.
Having once lived in New York City, I can assure you that no mine has to be present for the toxic dust to arrive. We’re importing it, shipping it in open train cars, and buying, then discarding much of what’s made from metals and petroleum. In time, the breakdown of ever growing imported toxins will impact our neighborhoods in much the same way, and in some examples, it already is. Just like the victims in Chile, here in America, the poor usually end up in the dumping grounds of our unwanted chemicals. For those of us lucky to be located in more affluent areas of the country, there are still growing signs of negative health effects related to heavy metal exposure in everyday consumer objects like smart phones and high powered batteries. Our ability to fully recycle these metals remains another 20 years out. and even then, not all the chemicals will be safely disposed or reused. Right now in Chile, children are showing the consequences of long term exposure to the metals being mined.
There is so much growing concern for the long term effects these metals will have in our communities as their presence grows. Yet the story remains compliant with some kind of ecological miracle in electric technology. Development demands so much input, with ever expanding consumer demand brought on by addictive buying and thoughtless throw away. These habits have been conditioned by capitalistic greed. We all know the symptoms, and we’re all on our couches deeply entrenched in comfort we’re not willing to part with. I certainly drive, type and watch on this screen, and text with my hand computer. What can we do? Well, buy less, purchase local, find ways to avoid single use, buy natural materials when you can. Reduce and reuse- as we were taught in the 80s and early 90s, when there was a brief renaissance in self awareness, as industries realized they could make the consumers think it was their fault things were polluted, and it was, but also the greater responsibility of the producers using vast quantities of resources for economic gain at the cost of environmental stability.
Now, instead of big oil, big mining is hiding the truth about polluted chemical production, and we the people really could care less, until it’s in our backyard and we become NIMBY– another trope in the ongoing dirty money shell game. “Now, instead of big oil, big mining is hiding the truth about polluted chemical production, and we the people really could care less, until it’s in our backyard and we become NIMBY– another trope in the ongoing dirty money shell game. Tell that to the people living near mines around the globe, but such health detriments are creeping into everyone’s backyard. You’re not immune, and the money made will not go to you’re health care, and it should. National healthcare should be subsidized by a pollution tax on all production and development, reflective of the toxicity it produces. The science is out there with these measurements. The industries would cry “we’ll go bankrupt and everyone will loose employment.” Well, they die slowly from the pollution, and we’re conditioned to think it’s our own doing. We are part of the problem, but the solution of just keep doing what we’re already doing is killing us faster. How can we put on the breaks? Stay tuned for Part III.
Late summer, 2023 and we’re off on a quick harvesting adventure in Westport, WA. On an overcast afternoon we wandered shore and dune on a naturalist wander. Twin Harbors State Park has a wonderful set of walking paths called Shifting Sands Naturalist Trails, which allow foot access to and from the beach. It was a lovely place to explore, offering shaded forest of shore pine and cascara, as well as delightful ripe evergreen huckleberry bushes. We browsed like bears and feasted on the fall abundance with gusto.
These dune edged pine dominate forests are a crucial buffer between ocean and towns developed nearby. Still, people continue to push closer to the water, making poor choice in building spots for vacation homes. This kind of irresponsible building along major flood prone areas will end up uninsurable and a natural disaster away from total destruction. We encountered a very recent housing development feet from a public beach, with no protection from the storm surf that is bound to come through these coastal areas more often with climate change. The short stubby pines and wrecked brush of coastal forests echo the powerful oceanic tempests.
Vegetative buffers work to disperse waves and bank deluges of freshwater rain into sand filtered aquifers. These giant hedges also produce numerous foods, medicines, and materials. Humans have not, and cannot reproduce this effective protection or abundant productivity through artificial means- even at great expense. Over time, these buffers will flood and succumb to changing tides, but the remnants of this bioregion will spread, and enhance inland spaces- if given space and opportunity. The way sea-level is rising, coastal flooding will only worsen over the next 30 years.
EEC is above this threat, but not immune to some water table shifts, especially if “The Big One” hits. At Westport, we’re in a most vulnerable place for tsunamis, and folks, there’s little high ground to run for if there’s a subduction zone slip off our coast. I cannot say we picked berries with any real concern, but any time our exploits take us west of Interstate 5 (including Seattle), we know we’re taking our lives into our own hands- so to speak. Geologic time spans millions of years, so the blip of my lifespan may see no great shift at all.
The dunes along central Washington’s western shore, well beyond the Olympic Mountains and Peninsula interior, feel like a Flemish painting, bucolic bright tones with silver skies. Shoreline grass and wildflowers mingle in a mesh of flashing color, like energetic brushstrokes of a master. Shifting shore breezes also set off the dunes with rolling sedge and rush. Along the tidelands, sky and water blend in a blurring swirl of white caps curling under in flocked foam. A flock of pelicans weaves in a line of grace and power through the surf. This experience was dream like, as with the deep evergreen woods of moss and mushrooms, the shore and dune forest transports us to a magical, timeless place.
What a year for mushrooms at EEC Forest Stewardship! Our tending of an extensive bolete patch through the years is paying out in dividends this October, 2023. We’ve had a few continuous days of rain and heavy morning fog to bring on the mushroom spring. I’m so thrilled about our crop of crackled and Zeller’s, the extent of this second flush remains hard to capture in pictures, but I’ll try-
What to do with all these mushrooms? Feast, feast, feast! I’ve been eating Xerocomellus chrysenteron and Xerocomellus zelleri for a decade, but it’s not agreeable with all stomachs. My partner’s belly rejects them, so I get to enjoy these scrumptious delicacies on my own. Please remember to eat a small amount first with any confirmed edible species before chowing down. Most mushrooms are best enjoyed when fresh, some are dehydrated to keep, but most should be cooked and enjoyed at the time of harvest. After gathering a “shirt full”, I returned to the house with a load to cook up and enjoy. Some of the younger Zeller’s will go into the fridge to enjoy within the next few days. Here’s the easy recipe for my meal today:
4 cups freshly picked boletes cleaned* cast iron on low/med heat, add cleaned mushrooms and cook off moisture (about 20min) stir often to encourage evaporation add 1 cup chicken broth and simmer 1/2 hour one ear of precooked corn sliced off cob into simmering brew cook down broth to desired “gravy” thickness, then turn off heat 4 leftover cooked scallops from last night’s dinner stirred in serve warm
*clean mushrooms by removing the pore layer under cap DO NOT WASH water on mushrooms is never helpful, as you are trying to remove H2O, use a dry brush it does wonders. Do cut off soil infused bits and blemishes with knife and brush in the field before basketing or t-shirt bagging them to avoid soil falling into chosen harvesting receptacle and on the other mushrooms, giving your meal unexpected and unwanted crunch.
Boletes do not need a lot of flavor additives, but these two species are not known for being that flavorful, so adding some butter or broth with herbs and spices is encouraged. Also- though these mushrooms can stain blue, they have no psychedelic properties, and are safe culinary species you can enjoy without worry. These bolete species are also one of the few red colored stipe species that are safe to eat- but as always, harvest with local experts in person when learning. A brave mushroomer is a dead one. I’m not here to scare you- yes I am. Mushroom identification is a science, and I’m only confidant in what I eat with years of experience in a specific bio-region of Western Washington.
At the end of Summer, family visited and we took a romp up some local trails to view Wallace Falls. It happened to be the first rainforest weather we’d had since 90F last May. Here we were, four months later, drifting up into misty tree tops while viewing and listening to falling water over rocks and leaves. Truly, these are The Cascades, and even with little precipitation over the season, these major basins further up the mountain climb were still slowly releasing groundwater surpluses, which feed crucial rivers in The Puget Lowlands.
Wallace Falls State Park stands at the edge of some serious timber harvesting forests, so it’s easy to see a forest in recovery side by side with heavily cut woodlands that look more and more mono-culture with each harvest. The park demonstrated the diversity in age and species of a forest allowed to grow without human dictation. There is still much evidence of the logging legacy, from railroad grade to old roads just beginning to disappear into the undergrowth. Classic old growth stumps with plank holes, testify to the colonial resource extraction in billions of trees. Most of the original woodlands here were cut- the main trunk wood hauled off to coastal ships and on to developing towns and cities. Then the stripped land was burned to make way for settlers, people unable to survive in overpopulated Europe, where land abuse had already destroyed their own homelands.
Much of the land, being so expansive and often quite rugged, regrew new trees, but within another generation, those too were cut, and the land burned again to clean out the debris cluttering the landscape. Well, that debris was the topsoil making engine of the forest, and with the entire understory turned to a thin layer of ash, third growth trees continue to struggle, stunted and often wind blown, modern forests here in The Pacific Northwest are a shadow of their former selves. This similar fate befell land across the world as humanities dominion mindset excused mass extraction for short term gluttons, while our very ecosystem was torn apart for petty convinces that are now killing us with growing success. Today, the last trees of old are continuing to fall, only now machines do all the work and expedite the process. Yes folks, around the world, the last old trees are being cut as I type this, and none of us will stop the madness. It’s moment of reflection like this which help me see the true cost of our modern living, and know we’re on our way out. We’ve abused our relationship with our home, and will face fatal consequences. So, go take a walk in the woods when you get a chance.
Parks and preserves will continue to be public places to see nature, even a deeply scared landscape will eventually rejuvenate if left to do so. Our short monkey minds can’t quite grasp centuries, let alone last week. Ecology takes millions of years to reset. Our little blip here has been a massacre, but not all is lost. People also do great things, yes, but our context blights, we have to mitigate ourselves. Education has become the enemy, because when you truly know a thing, you have to acknowledge yourself. Every bit of space we can give back to allow restoration while we decrease our own footprint, is the only way to truly live as part of a thriving ecosystem we can appreciate and enjoy.
Deception Falls is another park further up rout 2. It’s a drive by viewing on the south side of the highway, or you can stop at the interpretive trail on the north side of the road for a short walk and more stunning views. This lovely cascade seems tame today, but in a major rain event it crashes violently down the jagged rocks and even throws water out onto the edge of the highway at peak flow. This glacier fed stream has an icy blue color, which continues down into catchment pools below. The interpretive trail explains the water is sterile, fresh off the peak, and without enough living content to facilitate fish. It’s got to spend some more time mixing with the soil, bacteria, and other living organisms of the land to become active. Melted ice water is quite cold, so if you want to take a dip, make sure you bring a set of warm cloths to change into and don’t stay in long.
Deception Falls also hosts a very special tree that is sadly, now one of a kind in these mountains. The western white pine once dominated much of the western forests here in The US. Then a blight arrived on the leaves of imported currents and in a generation, the trees were ravaged. The United States declared war on currents in an attempt to save the pines, but it was too late. The timber industry watched the rust blight spreading across the country, and western white pines vanished like The American Chestnut. Today, there is one lone mature white pine standing quietly in this grove at Deception Falls. It survives as a loner, and continues to remind us of nature’s resiliency, and vulnerability.
After the wander through Deception Falls, we took a short cruise down The Old Cascade Highway to view some standing giants, though they were all second growth trees- there are no old growth stands left in this area. To us, the larger trees are still impressive, and the area is protected now, so that forest should have time to grow. The old trees stand thousands of years; few are left, but planted every day brings us closer to old growth in generations to come. In a few miles of driving one of only two east/west accesses in our state (year round), there are echos of old in a forest of youth. Places protected now, are in these flowing surfaces. Buffers and set backs should reflect wetlands, water tables, and sheds. Our ability to restore space for nature must also fold in recovered wildlife numbers. Without the elk herds in the thousands, mature trees will be few and far with open grazing paths and understory browsed down, and in check with slow burn natural fires.
Human development (encroachment) has limited these natural systems and diminished habitat productivity, demanding restoration of vast landscapes for long term human survival and quality of life for all. The scientific affirmation through generations brings us to a great understanding of our actions, and consequences- both good and bad. How do we start towards restoration and revitalization of our environment, and selves? Begin with the very terra firma you stand on and track the ownership and greater biome surrounding said space. For this biome, rainforest remains a present possibility, and EEC Forest Stewardship plants towards a return of some evergreen treetops with flowing streams, vernal pools, and mushroom springs.
Note- the biome link above steers you to “deciduous forest” in Washington, but note the “other” category in “rainforest”:
That’s right- TEMPERATE! Hence the conifers and waterfalls of our beloved home range- The Cascades. What a wonderful wander and fresh look at our surrounding forest places and publicly protected spaces here in Western Washington.
We are going over the edge of a cliff as a species, and taking the rest of the living world with us. The EPA, under the direction of The Supreme Court, has removed federal protection from most of our country’s wetlands. But hey, now states can regulate them- so it’s ok! Yeah, right! These are the nails in the coffin for all of us. I’ve written about wetlands and their destruction before, but if you want to dive deep and learn more about that history, Annie Proulx’s Fen Bog and Swamp is a next step. Today I just want to touch on one basic concept- it’s all connected. SCOTUS limited the scope of protected waters to surface contact only- as in, major US waterways and their direct tributaries. Water on the surface is easy to understand and monitor, but our waterways are still directly affected by groundwater. The map above shows how much groundwater has been depleted in modern times. These aquifers took thousands, if not millions of years to build up, and we’re draining them as fast as we can to perpetuate industrial agriculture, and the wells are drying up now at a record pace.
August 29, 2023, it rained in Western Washington for long enough to form puddles and awaken mushrooms. Literally, on a hike up to Wallace Falls, we saw no mushrooms, but on the way back down a few hours later, the fruiting bodies of our mycological friends were sprouting out of logs and standing dead wood. The rainforest came alive and the air cooled. It was like old times again- and I say old because Washington State is in a continuing drought, and this summer, like many in recent years, saw no meaningful rain for months. Even in this delightful momentary downpour, I lifted up some soaking wet moss to find bone dry soil underneath. We’ll need several inches more before any soaks in to water the deeper roots of our towering trees. It will have to seep through even further to replenish the water table.
People are compelled by what they see, and wetlands are seen as obstacles to be removed to make progress. Aquifers are out of sight, so is much of the pollution, which is why the general public does not think about what’s going down the drain or leaking out of the car onto the ground. Floods carry toxic chemicals into the wild waters nearby. This article in Forbes explains how flood waters enter wells, and access ground water we drink. During the COVID pandemic, scientists started testing sewage to track the virus in heavily populated areas. Water carries what’s put in it, including lead leeching from old pipes. We can’t see lead contamination in out water, so we don’t think about it. We can’t see radiation, so it’s not there. These costly assumptions based on ignorance cannot be ignored.
Water, much like the air we breath, carries and spreads pollution throughout the world. Another article I recently wrote about PFSA’s shutting down family farms in The Great Lakes aream demonstrates the hazards of dumping chemicals into water. Even water being treated at plants across the US, cannot remove many of the harmful pollutants, which are then released back into wild waters we rely on. Right now, 2023, Japan is releasing nuclear waste in waters from Fukushima into The Pacific Ocean. Even the best science says the long term risks are unknown at this time. Ocean currents move water all over the earth. What is released in one part of the world will end up everywhere with enough time and movement.
So what? The seasonal pond in the woods behind your house is not receiving ocean currents. Snow fed streams and springs won’t become toxic, that pure white peak above me looks crisp and clean. Does it? In addition to dust particles blown up from turning soil in mechanized development, toxins released into the air (an example) also lands in the mountains, hitching a ride on clouds and fusing into rain. Remember that acid stuff that reeked havoc in the 80s and 90s? Well, the saturation of concentrated chemicals used in our industrial production models remains, polluting our drinking water, which is pumped from deep below the ground. Below is an example of nitrogen levels in ground water- dark blue is highest, and congruent with long term industrial areas (specifically agriculture).
I’d just like to take a moment now for reflection on many of the sources I just shared- they are federal data collected science with peer reviewed studies and decades of research paid for by our taxes to enhance the quality of water- or at least identify problems and stop abuses. Without mapped data like the above, you and I would have no real comprehension or connection between fertilizers mixed into the soil would leech into groundwater and poison our wells. It’s crucial knowledge we can’t go fetch ourselves, it takes elected and appointed collective- society wanting safe drinking water and demanding oversight for the protection of all citizens’ right to potable water. As the studies continue to mount, and more long term research unveils the consequences of our action and inaction.
If you have some time and interest in learning about your local and state water commissioners, state laws, and effective mitigation practices here in Washington- please dive right in! If you’re not Washingtonian, I encourage you to seek out your own state’s records and laws to familiarize yourself with potential risk and need for citizen action to support strong state regulation in absence of federal. At EEC Forest Stewardship, we’re enrolled in a variety of state, federal, and NGO programs which monitor water quality, habitat restoration, and soil improvement. We get our well tested every few years for locally found toxins like arsenic- which occurs in the rock naturally, and nitrates, which would come from industrial practices. No dangerous levels of any contaminate has been found, but we keep testing, and sharing our results in larger databases for research and monitoring.
Even if the groundwater remains pure, the wells can only dig so deep, and as the water table drops, our creek will become seasonal, and the fish will be unable to use it as nursery space, along with many other aquatic species reliant on small creeks and seeps to survive. Closer to the Ocean, freshwater will be flooded with salt– which occurs when sea-levels rise. Much of Washington State’s coastal farming will be ruined, and brackish water will continue creeping up the rivers inland. The future of drinking water, irrigation for crops, and industrial contamination cannot co-exist. The talk right now seems to be desalinization plants and some wetland restoration to mitigate future storm surge. Neither of these solutions carries a silver bullet, but one produces more chemical pollutants as a major byproduct (I’ll let you guess which one). It’s a good thing we have federal oversight to monitor and chart the outcomes of our follies. Oh wait!
Cobalt is an issue, so is lithium, copper, nickle, and oil; which are all used to produce our technology, and “green solutions” like electric cars. We’ll all be driving such things in future, but the current and next 20 years of mining the resources necessary for these tools, and all our screens, has continued to exploit foreign lands and people; this continued abuse is inexcusable. I’m compliant, and so are you dear reader. Together, we’re looking away from a painful reality, which signals the end of environmental sense. In an effort to expand clean energy, people and nature, out of sight and mind, are paying the ultimate price for our convenience, and false feel good economy built on sustainability buzzwords. Heavy metals and petroleum (oil) continues to be extracted at faster and faster paces. Like the exponential growth of our ecological collapse, in the form of natural disasters and climate catastrophes, our turn towards electricity gladly helps the immediate onset of hell on earth. If you are wondering what on earth I’m talking about, take a moment to look up Kanshi, DRC. Look closely at this map link and observe the cobalt mines. There are many nearby, and the people who live there are eating, drinking, and breathing in cobalt for you and I to sit here contemplating the world wide web in comfort- plugging in whatever we like for convenience.
In the same way America built its glorious prosperity on the backs of slaves, today we continue to endorse the oppression of others for our own betterment. I’m not sure if this practice has ever not been a part of human survival- that fittest thing? But before I go down a rabbit hole of morality, let’s redirect back to electricity and this new progressive obsession with electrifying, as though plugging in is above drilling oil- because oil still goes into all that lovely plastic used in the manufacturing of all our electrics. Yes, not burning oil is best, but petrochemicals are putting out plenty of CO2 in other forms, and the heavy metal toxins to make our precious renewable batteries far outweighs most current oil production impacts. The video above comes from a larger documentary from a German public broadcasting agency called The Cobalt Challenge- The Dark Side of Energy Transition.
This film is about the cost of battery manufacturing, and global projections of manufacturing and how it impacts The Democratic Republic of Congo and Finland directly. If you don’t have an hour and a half to spare- in a nutshell; human rights abuse, ecological annihilation, and continued corporate denial fed by consumer assurance that green energy is electric cars and techno social equity. Spoiler- it’s not. I’ve known about rare earth mineral abuses since getting my first smart phone about a decade ago, but the growth of extraction and delusions of electrical salvation from combustion has become so prevalent, I feel it bears more scrutiny and some ethic check critical thinking around the future of renewable energy within consumer capitol growth expectation and the costs there of.
Back in 2019, international rights advocacy groups against several major US companies. Another similar suit was dismissed in 2021, because the tech companies did not own the mines, and therefor, were not responsible for the conditions within. Even more recently, in 2023, an activist helping to gather information for studies of the human abuses in the cobalt mines had to flee the country with his family. The circumstances bringing our eager fingers tech and longer lasting batteries for future driving will continue to cost in ways most of us cannot comprehend, making it easier for advertising to sooth our worries with green wash jargon like renewable and carbon neutral. All this wonderful clean technology will take very dirty mines to produce. What is the solution then? Well, we could all start by cutting back on purchasing tech. I’m using a refurbished phone now, and hope to keep doing that. Writing the companies you buy from to find out where they are sourcing their cobalt is useful- but so many cheap batteries from China still end up on American shelves, and those metals are sourced without any oversight. China is currently the worst extraction offender in DRC, and the extraction abuses of Congo stretch back hundreds of years. Colonial depredation is a revolving door in Africa, but the current cobalt trend remains DRC dominate, and that’s the metal our smart tech needs.
Please take heart in knowing a light is starting to shine in on these abuses, and the world is realizing what a cost our energy transitions mean for ecological stability, or do they? Hopefully you and I have learned a little more today reader, because it’s only part of a very complex supply chain of horrors our daily conveniences cost the world in humanity, ecology, and future thriving. Our stock market does not falter over clean water and air, but will continue to crumble as the climate intensity grows. It’s all one big interconnected web of life. The waters that now flow out of Finland and Congo, empty into Oceans and evaporate up into rain clouds, which carry the toxic particulates around the world so we can all enjoy our consumer folly. Tesla is coming for your ground water with Coke and Nestle. BNSF transports industrial waste out of sight throughout the country, yet it’s still being dumped somewhere to leech deep into our aquifers in time. Battery makers in Finland scoff at waste pipes rupturing into the interconnected lakes of no longer pristine wilderness near the Arctic circle. But Biden put a halt on his refuge drilling, for the sake of electric cars? It’s all turning into a fable with dire warnings. So learn a little French and sing with me now to ease our worries and consent.
Red Cedars are capable of great feats in adaption to survive. They are often leaning out, way over the rivers and creeks throughout Western Washington, spreading their branches to lend shade to the waters, keeping the temperatures cool for the fish and other aquatic life. When a landslide occurs, cedars thrown sideways downhill will re-root in whatever position they find themselves in, sending out a new crown lead if things go topsy-tervey. Often, when a tree falls over, it becomes a nurse log for other young vegetation. When left to grow upward and stretch existing branches, the skirt of the tree will bend down to the ground and re-root over time. It’s rare to recognize this action in nature, because most of the red cedars were cut one-hundred years ago, and the younger sapling trees around them- the branches that re-rooted, were cut like any other trees in the stand. You have to find protected areas like old homesteads that became county parks.
The picture above is a wonderful example of branches re-rooting and becoming braces for the existing tree, and establishing more stability and nutrient sharing. The smaller branches go into the ground at the curve of the “J” and with the continued replenishment of topsoil on the original homestead where this tree is located, the branches rooted and became maturing trees, growing much larger from their new rooted bases. For this kind of low branch development to happen, the cedar must also grow in an open area, where light is available all the way to the base of the tree. Mature old-growth forest offers little direct light to the ground, and the usual growth patterns of trees within a woodland look more like the following diagram.
It’s always humbling to think Western Red Cedars would grow for thousands of years if left to do so. The lone field cedars with rooted branches, will need the added support standing alone in a field. I’ve also seen branches at 90 degree angles off a tree near the base in thicker woodlands, perhaps where a patch of sunlight did filter through, and the cedar stretched towards it in desperate competition. Up is always the best direction to grow in a forest, and the outstretched branch turns up to follow the light. Even the candelabra shape of ancient trees shows a continued push ever upwards. I’d also like to point out this tree’s preferred habitat in or near wetlands and in flood planes where open edges of water invite the cedar ample space to extend branches into open sky.
At EEC Forest Stewardship, many of our cedars retain a skirt with j branches arching towards the earth. They set a goal in forest duff creation to raise our topsoil regeneration level until these lowest branches are buried and rooting out. This vision is worthy of generational scope, and will take tons of vegetative input to achieve. Starting with layers of moss, twigs and branches, as well as ground-cover plantings mentioned earlier, we aim to recover lost mulch and debris which a healthy forest needs. It’s a grand plan, and I’m sure we’ll have some great examples later this fall as we work to replant the understory. In the mean time, keep a sharp lookout for rooted branches in your own neighborhood or local park. Many species do this, so take note of forest shape, location, and history.
EEC Forest Stewardship 