EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Two, Number Four March/April 1993 CHURCHES SPONSOR COMPASSIONATE MINISTRY TO TIMBER DEPENDENT COMMUNITY The Harbor Churches Timber Outreach Program Because of years of unsustainable logging practices by the lumber industry, the federal government instituted environmental regulations to preserve old growth forests. As a result, in 1991 and 1992 rural communities like the Gray's Harbor area of Southwestern Washington lost hundreds of jobs. The unions called on the churches for help. An initial survey by an ecumenical group of pastors revealed that the priority needs of displaced loggers were emergency food, job development and housing. To address these needs the churches launched the Timber Community Outreach Project, an interfaith effort sponsored by the Southwestern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), with funding from Catholic and Protestant churches, and administered by the Lutheran Social Services. Volunteers with a part time coordinator hold workshops on dealing with grief from the loss of livelihood, organize family support groups, provide neighbor to neighbor assistance to those in need, and solicit food and financial help from churches state wide. Businesses and city governments join in sponsoring a community picnic in August, celebrating life in Gray's Harbor. According to Dr. Robert Lee, a sociologist and forester from the University of Washington, human adjustments to job loss in timber communities are more complex than previous job losses for several reasons. A culture, a way of life, is on the verge of being destroyed. Residents have chosen a lifestyle to be in daily contact with creation. Most of them would not want indoor jobs or urban lifestyle. Yet, of the 650 workers in the Gray's Harbor area who lost mill-related jobs, the majority are moving to the urban corridor to find employment. The Outreach Project has initiated a petition to the President's Timber Summit to find balanced solutions, with a manageable rate of change in order not to destroy timber dependent communities. These communities feel betrayed by the government upon whose promises they have built their entire lives. For 40 years they have operated under a guarantee by the government to provide a continuous supply of timber for harvesting in the Olympic National Forest. Overnight the rules changed. Class conflict and stereotyping is emerging between disputing parties — "big city yuppies" against the "rural working man". Another factor is the caricaturing of the logger. People who love the forests, who have chosen a lifestyle in order to be outdoors, at great risk to themselves, have seen themselves on the Saturday morning cartoons portrayed as ignorant, beer-guzzling slobs out to destroy the beauty of God's world. As we reach the limits of the environment and are forced to make drastic changes in our way of life, the challenge to the churches is how to care for creation while caring for our neighbor. Suggestions from the Southwestern Washington ELCA Synod: Pray for a just solution. Oppose the caricaturing of either side of the debate. Validate the human pain of the situation. Advocate that the human costs of a national policy decision be borne at a national level. And if you know of a business looking to relocate outside of an urban area, urge it to consider Gray's Harbor. For more information write Rev. Steven Morrison, Southwestern Washington Synod, ELCA, 420 - 121st Street South, Tacoma WA 98444, (206) 535-8300, or Rev. Melanie Martin-Dent, Harbor Churches Timber Outreach, P.O. Box 517, Hoquiam, WA 98550, (206) 533-6051. Home     Table of Contents