Customer Reviews

The Last Ancient Forests [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This beautiful, award-winning film is a must for anyone who loves nature and wants to see it protected. It is also an eye-opener for anyone who does not realize that the last remnants of ancient and old growth forests in America are being clear-cut every day, even though they stand on public land in our own National Forests. At the end of the film we learn about the Act to Save America's Forests, which would save these imperiled ecosystems if passed by Congress.

The film begins with lovely, poignant native American flute music, as author James Redfield walks the viewer through a portion of the Cobble Creek National Forest in Oregon. Only 4% of America's majestic ancient forests are left, we learn--most in publicly-owned National Forests like Cobble Creek. Stunning photography reveals the glories of the towering Douglas Firs in this forest, which are home to an array of wildlife that depend upon them. We see a red-crested, pileated woodpecker disappear into a nest-hole, eagles landing on nests atop the trees, and (in a remarkable shot) a close-up of a woodland mouse climbing a tree, only to be snatched in the talons of an owl flying by. Along a rushing stream, a family of river otters climb onto the mossy banks.

All of this primeval beauty is juxtaposed with mind-boggling views of nearby clear-cuts--the fate awaiting Cobble Creek. Trees topple and fall; soil washes into streams, in devastating floods, as the forest degrades into a moonscape. James Redfield and his companions show us logging roads that reach into every nook and cranny of theforests, rendering even the sides of the steepest mountains bare and lifeless. Trees centuries old are hauled away by government-subsidized logging companies--who leave behind nothing but a vast cemetery of stumps. After viewing this film, one can see why people describe forests as being "raped."

The film reminded me of my own boyhood, when I saw privately-owned forest and wetlands around my home transformed into malls and industrial parks in the short span of a decade. There wasn't much I could do about it, and I still feel the loss. But Redfield makes clear that these last glorious forests are publicly owned--and that the public therefore has the right to determine whether or not they are destroyed to become chopsticks. The way to save them, the film concludes, is by contacting our congressional representatives and the President to support the Act to Save America's Forests--which is the first thing I did after I saw the video. I recommend it highly.

Dr. Jud Newborn (Co-author, "Shattering the German Night: The Story of the White Rose")

The Last Ancient Forest is a well crafted, ten minute video that teachers the viewer about our country's deforestation crisis and what must be done to save and restore America's last remaining wild, natural, and original forests. The Last Ancient Forest is ideal for Earth Day celebrations, nature/ecology classroom curriculums, and highly recommended for both school and community library video collections.