Deforestation and the Cost of Disaster
An editorial reflection on Everett’s regional flooding, linking unchecked industrial logging to the destruction of homes and property.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The elements of fire and flood are good servants but poor masters. The money loss during the recent floods will total an enormous figure. Homes swept away, cattle and horses drowned, railroad property badly damaged, transportation demoralized—it is a severe toll exacted of us by the seething waters. Many families have lost their all and must begin life anew. Those who have studied flood conditions tell us that we may look for oft-recurring disasters of that nature. The rapid deforestation going on, they tell us, is responsible for them. So magic figures of lumber and shingle production of which we so proudly boast—we lead the Union, you know, in forest wealth—must be offset by figures of property loss by flood. Rather a high price we are being called upon to pay for our boastfulness, isn't it?
“So magic figures of lumber and shingle production... must be offset by figures of property loss by flood.”
Everett’s historical reliance on the timber industry mirrors current conversations about the long-term ecological consequences of resource extraction and climate resilience in the Pacific Northwest.
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