The Glade Market occurred on July 22 and another is planned for Aug. 26.
Glade Watershed Protection Society started the market for community members to support local enterprises, and as an ongoing community event for conversation and connection.
We have a diversity of people living in Glade and we share the commonalities of land, water, air and weather. Can we gather as a community to hear each other, share information and consider various points of view? We are in a time of change, one in which we have to shift from resource extraction to resilience and protection of resources, especially in view of current climate changes.
Through consultation with qualified registered professionals we know that proposed logging by Kalesnikoff and ATCO in Glade Creek watershed will adversely impact forest ecosystems and our drinking water. The forest mediates snowfall and melt, drying wind and the heat of the summer sun, and it produces and delivers our water. We believe that an ecosystem-based community forest is a viable option: instead of private logging companies controlling public land, the community of Glade would determine what happens in our watershed.
Glade community could implement fire suppression, provide education about the forest ecosystem, strategically remove trees and sell the timber to local mills, and could benefit from wildcrafting as a source of revenue and education. Wildcrafting consists of harvesting plants, and also giving back to the ecosystem by encouraging colonies of plants to multiply.
A vital part of the July 22 market was a small table that displayed wild ginger, Oregon grape, wild lettuce, birch polypore, hazelnuts, snakeroot plantain leaves and devil’s club root bark. Elliott Groen collected these plants and they are part of the valuable forest ecosystem in the Glade Creek watershed. We know that every action in the forest benefits another part of the ecosystem, mutualism is equally the norm. Humans can contribute to the forest and watershed in similar ways: ways that benefit us as well as the natural systems around us. Conventional logging precludes this: the forest cannot be “put back.”
Come out Aug. 26 from 10 to 2 for the Glade Market. Once again there will be entertainment, vendors, great food and information about how to make this tiny part of our world a bit better. Come for community and conversation. We are happy to welcome all vendors. See protectgladewatershed.com under Current Events.
Glade Watershed Protection Society