Growth

This photo was taken on the Skookumchuck Trail on the Sechelt Peninsula in British Columbia's Sunshine Coast. The Trail winds through a forest of Douglas Fir which was heavily logged last century. In amongst the smaller, juvenile trees are the stumps of many 'harvested' giants.

While it's sad to see these stumps dotting the forest floor, it's nevertheless encouraging to see how the forest is reclaiming them. The stumps provide shelter and nutrition for seedlings: in this picture you can see young trees growing on the remains of the old. Second growth is second best, of course. Take a look at today's placemark and you can see massive swathes of clearcut in the region. But the image of a seedling taking over the niche relinquished by a mature tree is one that gives me hope. While humanity's industrial approach to raping ecosystems is going to cause long term damage from a human perspective, at the end of the day we are a flash in the pan and life will find a way. Call me a wild-eyed optimist but I'm willing to bet that a million years from now there will be no trace of us left, while life on earth will be thriving.

Details: Nikon D70, 18-70mm @ 18mm, f/6.3, 1/10s, ISO 200. 24 May 2006, near Egmont, British Columbia. Placemark.