Along the Pacific west coast, stretching from Alaska down to Northern California, is an ancient and beautiful rainforest where everything is connected.
Full of towering ancient trees and new seedlings, the forest provides shelter and food for many animals. The trees are home to Douglas squirrels, which help to spread the conifer cones that will sprout into new trees, Western screech-owls and chestnut-backed chickadees. The giant conifers shelter the streams where baby salmon hatch in the spring, and where adult salmon return to spawn. Bears, wolves and eagles feast on the fish, and the leftovers of their meals fertilize the plants and trees in a cycle where the trees protect the salmon and the salmon feed the trees. Banana slugs that slide along the forest floor, helping to further break down decaying plants and animals. And new life is lifted up by nursery logs, where seedlings sprout and grow strong on the decaying fallen trees.
Deborah Hodge's text shows the interconnectedness of this amazing ecosystem, while Karen Reczuch's lavish watercolors show the rainforest teeming with life and the shades of green that can only come from more than ten feet of rain a year.
