​Book Review by Lisa Dekker

In her new book, “The Trees are Speaking: Dispatches from the Salmon Forest,” author Lynda V. Mapes travels to regions in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia to learn how research has radically changed our understanding of so-called ‘legacy forests’ in the space of just 60 years. The term was first coined by Stephen Kropp, founder of the Center for Responsible Forestry, who describes a legacy forest as a “naturally regrown, mature forest that preserves the biological, functional and structural legacies of the forests they replaced.” Although not everyone respects the term [it is not yet a designation used by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR)], there are legacy forests scattered throughout publicly-owned lands in Washington which are managed by the DNR.

Through interviews on site and forest walks with luminaries like Dr.Jerry Franklin, often called the ‘father of modern forestry’ for his work at the University of Washington, the first part of Mapes’ book eloquently describes why these forests matter.

We learn how research has radically changed our understanding in the space of just 60 years. Likely due to their dark understories, where little sunlight reaches some plants and trees, older forests with big trees went from once being described as “biological deserts,” to currently being recognized as the complex, life-giving, carbon-capturing, watershed-preserving treasures we know them to be today. 

In the chapter titled “Salmon Forests,” Mapes travels for a week among both the remaining healthy forests and the desolate clearcuts of Vancouver Island with Teresa Ryan (traditional name Sm’hayetsk), an Indigenous Knowledge and Natural Science lecturer at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Susan Simard, an eminent forest ecologist, also at UBC. 

Both Ryan and Simard are part of the Mother Tree Project, a crew of researchers looking at the changes in soil health, especially the decrease in the amount of carbon in the soil after successive clearcuts on a site. Simard has also led the project’s deep dive into examining the richly complex soils of the uncut forests, bringing insight, for example, into how the trees connect via the mycorrhizal fungi network between them. [These findings are controversial because if the logging industry were required to adjust their practices in order to retain these “biological legacies” for successful regrowth, it would be costly.]

Also evidence of the value of preserving older forests are the proven ‘sustainable’ traditions of the Tribes, stewards of these lands and forests for centuries before colonization. Their practices and protocols recognized that, by caring for the forests, the forests would care for them. New evidence for this appeared in a paper published in 2022, based on an archeologic study done in the land of the Nuun-chah-nulth peoples of British Columbia (whose family ties and culture extend down to the Makah reservation in northwest Clallam County). Botanists and archaeologists found that “old growth trees [still there] are witnesses” to the fact that these people were more than hunter-gatherers and that they “took care of and managed…forest gardens abundant with crab apples, berry patches, and wild rice root crops.” At the same time, because they stripped off only narrow pieces of cedar bark for their shelter and clothing, these same cedar trees have lived on for centuries. 

In the preface, Mapes declares that “[t]he need for a paradigm shift is readily apparent.” After many  real-world examples to support that belief, she concludes with stories of successful restoration projects, new ideas for community solutions, and a belief in the potential for people to change their way of thinking. This should encourage the reader to hope, as the author hopes, for a “new ethos of conservation, based on reciprocity and respect in our relations with one another, and with nature.”   

Clallam Democrats Rising asked four local elected officials to look back on the results of the 2025 election and share their “take-away” lessons for Democrats in Clallam County.

Mark Ozias, Clallam County Commissioner, District 1
My takeaway from the November 2025 election victories for Democrats across the country is primarily that people get excited about, and will come out and vote for, good candidates who speak directly to the "kitchen table" issues that virtually all Americans are facing right now, and who are not afraid to stand up to bullies. I sense that voters’ thirst for a new generation of candidates who are not afraid to champion bold ideas and who are not beholden to entrenched power structures. We need to support candidates who believe in liberty, freedom and the rule of law. We need to understand that the majority of Americans despise Donald Trump and we need to support each other because there are a whole lot of people out there who wish to save democracy in America.

Mike French, Clallam County Commissioner, District 3
When Democrats talk about issues that matter to working-class Americans, we win elections. When we deliver real results on affordability and jobs, the voters respond. This is true historically, and I think it's why we're seeing encouraging results around the country. Shifting our focus back to Clallam County, we need to provide meaningful results on economic development, workforce development, and housing – and we are! Because of the collaborative, non-partisan work of the North Olympic Peninsula Recompete Coalition, we're seeing over $40 million of economic and workforce development funding being deployed over the next five years to create good jobs and connect our residents to good jobs. Because of partnerships that Clallam County fostered with local affordable housing developers, we'll be seeing a 36-unit apartment building coming online in Port Angeles in 2026, with multiple similar developments in the planning pipeline across Clallam County. I think voters want to see action on issues they care about, and they're tired of all the rhetoric. Let's show them results.

Mike Chapman, 24th District State Senator 
My take away from this week’s election is that, throughout the 24th Legislative District, Washington State, and across our country, people will elect Democrats when we focus on affordability, fully funding our public schools, protecting and expanding access to healthcare, and strengthening the social safety net. And, in order to pay for our priorities, we will ask the very wealthy to pay their fair share, like we did in Olympia when the Democrat majority State Senate became the first legislative chamber in the nation to pass a tax on billionaire’s wealth. 

Focusing on middle class issues and asking the very rich to pay more will always be a winning message as we contrast our policies with the evil and destructive Trump executive orders and budget cuts. We need to be proud to stand strong for progressive Democratic values. As one of my Senate colleagues said recently, we need “Democrats to stand strong against Trump and be proud to promote Democratic policies that help the working class!” I couldn’t agree more.

Adam Bernbaum, 24th District State Representative 
Affordability matters most. 

Across the country, voters elected Democratic candidates for positions up and down the ballot. In Virginia and New Jersey, Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill campaigned on affordability as pragmatic moderates. In New York City, Zohran Mamdani won a mayoral campaign as a Democratic Socialist who focused relentlessly on affordability. Polling shows that a plurality of Americans say that inflation/pricing are the most important issues facing the country (25%, according to Economist/YouGov). The next most picked option was jobs/economy, with 14%. The respondents who picked these options were bipartisan, closely split between Democrat and Republican. 

National polling provides further evidence. In the Economist/YouGov’s running poll of Trump’s approval on major issues, from January to November 2025, his approval on inflation and pricing fell from about +3% approval to -35% disapproval. The topic with the next highest unfavorables in November was taxes, at -20% disapproval. 

This polling tells a story: Voters are deeply worried about inflation and pricing and believe that Trump is at least partially to blame. Did that perception affect how people voted down-ballot? The evidence suggests it did. In New York, 32% of voters said they voted how they did to oppose Trump. In Virginia and New Jersey, 38 and 40% of Sherrill and Spanberger voters said they voted how they did to oppose Trump. Voters appear to be punishing downballot Republicans because of their connection to Trump and when they think about Trump, their primary opinion on his performance is that they are mostly dissatisfied with pricing and inflation.

​So, what about Washington State? Here I’m going to be a bit more speculative. In April, the Elway Poll found that 51% of respondents in Washington said they were paying more attention to politics and only 8% said they were paying less attention. In Washington State, Deb Krishnadasan and Victoria Hunt won, holding off Republican challengers who withered under attacks tying them to Trump and his agenda. The message “you can’t trust Republicans with Trump at the top,” seems persuasive to voters who are paying more attention to federal politics now than before and who see in state discussions of election policy and gerrymandering a plausible connection between downballot Republican positions and Trump’s anti-democratic tendencies. 

This dynamic seems to be turning out progressive voters and undoing Republican gains with younger, more diverse voters. In Virginia and New Jersey, younger, diverse counties like Hudson, Passaic, and Middlesex that swung sharply to Trump in 2024 swung back to Democrats just as sharply in 2025 (Economist, Nov. 9). 

But this national anti-Trump/affordability narrative, while explaining Democratic wins against Republicans, doesn’t fully capture what happened with Washington’s Democratic races. Here, affordability was a central battleground where a more progressive vision of affordability won the day. In Washington, incumbent Edwin Obras narrowly beat Kevin Schilling in a progressive-on-moderate primary in the 33rd Legislative District (LD). Similarly, incumbent progressive Vandana Slatter beat moderate Amy Walen in an expensive primary fight in the 48th LD. At the time of writing this, incumbent moderate Bruce Harrell appears to have narrowly lost his lead and is on track to lose his reelection bid for Mayor of Seattle to Katie Wilson, a young, progressive challenger. [Ed note: Harrell has now conceded to Wilson.]

What about an anti-establishment hypothesis? The evidence here is ambiguous across races, but generally not persuasive. Obras is the incumbent, but he was appointed, and Schilling had strong name ID in the district and may have felt more like an establishment candidate. Krishnadasan was a first-time candidate, but her opponent has been on the ballot for almost a decade. Hunt, similarly, ran against a candidate who has been on the ballot since 2012, although Hunt had also been a city councilmember in Issaquah prior to her election. I mention this to flag that if there is an anti-establishment streak to voter behavior this year, it’s hard to detect given local dynamics, and it seems to have been washed out by voters ready to return progressive legislators to Olympia. What is still unclear, in my opinion, is whether that reflects higher progressive engagement driven by Trump or an ideological shift to the left.

​But, to return to my original claim, one thing all of these candidates talked about was affordability. Their approaches varied in how they talked about affordability, but each of these candidates made it an important part of their reelection campaign, if not the center of their reelection campaign. We’ll likely learn more as polling begins to eke out over the next couple months before the 2026 midterms, but expect to continue to see campaigns focused on how we can lower costs.

Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove faced sharp questions about why he has been slow to protect the Doc Holliday timber parcel, the Elwha watershed, and other legacy forests in Clallam County. The questions followed his speech to a gathering at Democratic Party headquarters in Port Angeles on Oct. 29 as part of the Clallam Democrats’ “Let’s Talk” series, where he shared an update of his first 10 months in office.

The room was packed with a cordial but also deeply concerned crowd. Upthegrove thanked his audience for helping him win election by 49 votes, a margin so close that his supporters, including some in the crowd, were on the telephone to voters helping “cure” rejected ballots so he could win.

Asked if he considers himself an “advocate” of progressive change, or a “manager” of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which he heads, Upthegrove replied that he is both. He cited his designation of 77,000 acres in additional conserved forest, claiming it is the biggest victory in a generation in saving forest land. Yet, he also warned that “I’m not going to take action right now,” given that DNR faces demands that it sell timber and distribute the revenues to hard-pressed jurisdictions like Clallam County to fund schools, fire departments, and emergency responders.

Earth Law Legal Director Elizabeth Dunne, Clallam Conservation Commissioner Wendy Rae Johnson, and other environmentalists lined up at the microphone to comment.  They reminded Upthegrove that measures like the $23 million “Cash for Counties” Natural Climate Solutions measure approved by the Legislature could purchase legacy forests like Doc Holliday. They noted with approval that, although the pause in harvesting timber in legacy watersheds that Upthegrove ordered last January is no longer in effect, legacy forest sales in the Elwha watershed are still on hold. They also mentioned that Port Angeles and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe draw drinking water from the Elwha River. 

Upthegrove hailed actions by progressive lawmakers in Olympia in passing laws that strengthen conservation and combat global climate change. He urged enactment of more state laws to strengthen his efforts to protect forests and wildlife.

Upthegrove went on to denounce President Trump for “chaos, disruption and corruption.” Trump’s threat to “terminate wildfire defense grants…is more than morally bankrupt,” Upthegrove remarked, noting that the threat adds to the revenue shortfall of over $12 billion Washington State now faces.

Upthegrove arrived half an hour late to the meeting, so Clallam County Democratic Party Chairwoman Ellen Menshew called on Washington State Senator Mike Chapman to speak. Senator Chapman drew strong applause when he urged more grassroots action and endorsed steps to protect forests in the Elwha watershed. The senator spoke at length about successes for Olympic Peninsula Tribes, including adding thousands of acres to their reservations and measures that protect forests and wildlife.

News on the government shutdown has centered around the Trump Administration’s suspension of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits during the shutdown. But SNAP is only one of many federal-supported programs that comprise the ‘safety net’ for many low-income families.  

In 2024, 1,483 residents in Clallam County were served by the Washington State Women, Infants, Children nutrition program (WIC). SNAP is a USDA general food assistance program for low-income individuals, while WIC is a USDA-targeted program for pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, infants, and children under five years old. SNAP allows for the purchase of a wide variety of foods using a monthly benefit amount, whereas WIC provides specific food items and brands, along with nutrition counseling, to those who meet both income and nutritional risk criteria. It is possible to use both programs. WIC offices in Clallam County remain open, and benefits are still available, but the program is being monitored for future impacts as local agencies run out of federal funds to pay staff. [Source: WIC Data by County - Federal Fiscal Year 2024] 

​For people who have never needed to use these programs, it may be hard to understand how just the delay or suspension of benefits can throw a family in need into a family in crisis. According to Fran Howell, President of the Board for the Port Angeles Food Bank, some parents end up not feeding themselves so they can feed their children. She says that many of the people who use the Food Bank are working fulltime or holding down two jobs and still struggling to pay all the bills. If SNAP or WIC benefits are not paid, then people face terrible choices such as whether to forgo bills for things like childcare or rent or utilities in order to buy food. Even when benefits are restored, the gap sets up a domino effect that has families feeling like they will never catch up.

​According to Andra Smith, Executive Director at the Sequim Food Bank, “What I’ve found so far is that approximately 20 percent to 25 percent of residents in Clallam County are on SNAP.” Smith was quoted in an article in The Peninsula Daily News on Aug. 9, 2025.  She continued, “That’s money that people were spending in our local grocery stores and farmers markets on food, so it’s going to cause an economic impact on our community as well.” Fran Howell agreed, saying that, normally, there are $3 million/month in SNAP benefits coming to Clallam and Jefferson County residents. 

Even if benefits were not suspended, other factors such as spiraling prices and wages failing to keep up with inflation have put increased pressure on food banks. That shows in the number of visits that households made to the Port Angeles Food Bank in 2024. A household can be an individual or a family. There were 45,000 household visits in 2024, up from 10,000 visits in 2017. During the anxiety-filled weeks before the shutdown, about 200 new households signed up for help from the PA Food Bank, an all-time record. To ensure sustainability, the organization has had to limit the number of visits per week so there is enough food for everyone. 

Washington State is stepping up, with Governor Ferguson providing support to combat food insecurity by directing $2.2 million per week to Washington's food banks to help mitigate the loss of federal SNAP benefits due to the government shutdown. Fran Howell said details are being hammered out, but it's possible up to $50,000 may come to the North Olympic Peninsula, to be divvied up between Clallam and Jefferson County food banks.

SNAP and WIC are not the only programs affected. Federally funded energy assistance programs include the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ LIHEAP provides direct financial aid for heating, cooling, and energy crises, while WAP helps low-income households improve energy efficiency through home improvements. An estimated $382,067 in LIHEAP funds was allocated to the Clallam County Cooperative Association in fiscal year 2024. LIHEAP funding has been suspended nationwide and benefits are being delayed due to the long government shutdown. 

Head Start, a federally funded, free program for children from birth to age 5 from low-income families to prepare them for school and life, is also affected, with some programs already closing and thousands of children at risk of losing services. Families will lose access to affordable early education and childcare, which forces parents to go on unemployment or seek other public assistance, as they are unable to go to work without childcare. [Source: WA Head Start closures leave thousands of families without childcare – KIRO 7 News Seattle].

The stress of food insecurity and loss of these safety nets can also be a factor in an increase in domestic violence. Healthy Families of Clallam County, which offers services to child and adult survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and other crimes has seen a recent rise in requests for help. Many of these survivors are starting over with very little or nothing.

No one knows how long the longstanding federal programs that fund these safety nets will be suspended or if they will even survive in the future. States, counties and cities will be challenged to figure out how they can meet the needs of an increasing number of people.

How Can You Help? 

Food Bank: 

1. Monthly donation: Setting up a monthly donation to the Food Bank provides a steady income that supports sustainability and allows the Food Bank to buy in bulk at discount prices. Go online to your local Food Bank to contribute once, or to set up a monthly donation.
2. Donate or promote food drives: These donations help by making a variety of food available at Food Banks that might not be offered in bulk buys. This is especially important during holidays by supplying  items which are not usually bought in bulk, such as pie crusts, pumpkin or apple pie filling, and cranberry sauce. 

Healthy Families of Clallam County: Go to their website or office to find out how you can help through donations of money or supplies. Adopt a family for the holidays or longer. 

Clallam PUD: Pay it forward to help with utility bills. Go online at Clallam PUD to see what programs are offered to receive or give help, or contact OlyCAP at https://olycap.org/energy-assistance

​Join your fellow Democrats by participating in our Calls-to-Action (CTA) Challenge. See details on each CTA below. Then, do your part to “be the change you want to see in the world” by accepting the challenge and making your Calls to Action today!

#1 Senate Bill 2763 Keep Billionaires out of Social Security Act
Who to call: Senator Maria Cantwell   
What to Ask: Sponsor Senate bill 2763. She will be joining 29 other Senators, including Senator Patty Murray, who have already added their names to the bill. 
Brief summary: S-2763 was introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders on Sept 17, 2025. It will reinforce the Social Security system by implementing several key provisions aimed at safeguarding its integrity and improving beneficiary services.
Source/More details at: Quiver Quantitative

#2 Demand Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought’s resignation
Who to call: Senator Murray, Senator Cantwell, Congresswoman Emily Randall 
What to ask: Call for Trump’s OMB director Russell Vought to resign 
Brief summary: Vought was a key author of Project 2025 and now, as Trump’s OMB director. He has “seized on the opportunity … to slash jobs in health, education, the sciences” and other areas” (Associated Press).
Sources/More details at: PBS News
Public Citizen: Congress Must Force Vought Out

#3 Saving Clallam County’s Legacy Forests
Who to contact: County Commissioners Mark Ozias, Mike French, Randy Johnson. Email Loni Gores, Clerk of the Board. Your email message will be forwarded to all three County Commissioners.
What to ask:  Urge the Commissioners to preserve the County’s older, complex Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Legacy Forests by nominating them for the Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) program and its Cash for Counties proviso. 
Brief summary: We have an opportunity to save rare, complex, older DNR forests (also known as Legacy Forests) in Clallam County, while still preserving our junior taxing districts’ revenue – school, library, fire district funds – by utilizing a new state program, Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) and a proviso called Cash for Counties. 
Sources/More details at:
Earth Law Center: Elwha Legacy Forests

HOW TO MAKE YOUR CALLS TO ACTION!

#1, #2, above: Use the Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121. Just tell the operator which of our three electeds you are trying to reach and leave your message.
#3: Clallam County Commissioners: Email Loni Gores, Clerk of the Board. Your email message will be forwarded to all three commissioners: Randy Johnson, Mike French, and Mark Ozias.