Renowned environmental activist Alex Haraus and cinematographers Aidan Kranz and Elena Jean spent the last year exploring some of the last remaining ancient forests on public lands in the US. These forests - mature and old-growth forests - offer one of our best natural defenses against the impacts of climate change. But these carbon-storing powerhouses are so much more than that.

As the film crew travels from the rolling hills of West Virginia to the serene valleys of Wisconsin and temperate rainforest of Oregon, they learn more about the value that these ancient ecosystems have for the communities that depend on them.


We learn that the looming threat of cutting proposes to devastate these landscapes. In the United States, the Forest Service is currently targeting hundreds of thousands of acres of mature and old-growth forest for logging. These forests could be lost forever, unless we can demonstrate widespread support for protecting them. This year, the public has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to forever change the way our government manages our federal public lands. Through local advocates and grassroots storytelling, the film makes a case for protecting mature and old-growth forests across the federal estate and shows how the audience can help.

After the film, stay to learn how you can help safeguard mature and old growth forests under the Forest Service’s National Old Growth Amendments. And learn about local efforts to protect imperiled forests in the Northern Rockies, including Montana’s Yaak Valley, Bitterroot & Sapphire Mountains, and Idaho’s wild Clearwater Country.

There will be a Q&A following the film.  

Featured Panelists:

Rick Bass, Executive Director, Yaak Valley Forest Council

Michele Dieterich, Steering Committee, Friends of the Bitterroot

Jeff Juel, Forest Policy Director, Friends of the Clearwater

Moderated by:

Adam Rissien, ReWilding Manager, WildEarth Guardians