Anatomy of a Conflict: Identity, Knowledge, and Emotion in Old-Growth Forests

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

In Oregon, two communities (with names that do not immediately clarify
their opposing interests) are in conflict over the state’s temperate
rainforest. The Forest Community Movement supports the logging of
old-growth rainforest areas, while the Ancient Forest Movement opposes
the logging of old-growth forests. Anatomy of a Conflict presents,
clearly and strongly, the apparently irreconcilable interests of these
two groups.

The loggers and their supporters argue that harvested rainforests can
reproduce themselves in time. Grassroots environmentalists emphasize the
need to ensure the survival of the spotted owl and other threatened
species. As she listened to both sides, Terre Satterfield came to feel
that the two hostile camps were “talking past” one another, each
deaf to the other’s concerns.

Satterfield’s terms, often technical, reflect the academic side of a
dispute that directly affects a great many lives. The book may have
begun life as a thesis, and does not always make easy reading.
Nevertheless, it clarifies the opposing sides of a conflict that will
loom large in the 21st century. The writer herself is “torn between
two worlds.” She readily admits that there are no easy answers, and
does not pretend to offer any.