Forest River Balance

To end the warm day, we swim in rivers, bathing and surfing logs. At the end of our session I caught Bryon balancing this hardwood log against the river bank and the backdrop of the forest. I wonder, can this community balance the protection and management of community areas within and along the boundaries of the national park? And, how will they negotiate with outsiders? How will they deal with management issues, especially when both access rights need to be balanced with real help -- making maps, mapping resources, and efforts to preserve indigenous knowledge. My time in the Crocker Range, with indigenous research assistants has given me both hope and a deep conviction that documenting local knowledge with the help, assistance, and knowledge of local communities is vital for carving out areas where people can live, maintain forest-based livelihoods, and have a connectivity with outsiders that provides both access to markets, modern necessities, and, perhaps most importantly, a place one can call home, a place where one can go back to. Sometimes, at the end of the day, hands sore from throwing kids in the river and back sore from planting, I feel hope. And I learn to look for it, to talk about it, and to be comfortable with this uneasy balance at the edges of wind, forest, and river current.