Listen to “Filmmakers Highlight Plight of Cook Forest’s Iconic Hemlocks,” an interview with Dave & Melissa Rohm, the team behind Wild Excellence Films‘ documentary on Cook Forest, Cathedral: The Fight to Save the Ancient Hemlocks of Cook Forest. Here’s an excerpt:
Interviewer Kara Holsopple: What would it mean to lose the hemlocks in Cook Forest, to the ecosystem there and also to people?
David Rohm: Cook Forest would be a much different place. If you’ve been to Cook Forest, there’s a sheltering ability that these hemlock trees provide. 120-foot trees, you take away even half of them, and you’re going to see a huge difference. There’s a lot of wildlife. Migrating birds love the forest –way up in the canopies, they’re safe there. They reintroduced fishers there not too long ago. It’s like a mink but a little bigger. To people, Cook Forest means a tremendous amount. They get 500,000 visitors a year who aren’t going to visit if it’s not the same forest.
Please visit the Allegheny Front, via this link, for the full interview and audio.