Snohomish County residents joined forest and climate activists across the Pacific Northwest Monday morning to hang banners calling for forest protection as key to mitigating the worst impacts of climate change.

On the two-year anniversary of the 2021 Heat Dome, communities throughout the Pacific Northwest are mobilizing a week of action to shine a spotlight on the significance of forest defense as climate defense. Activists argue that protecting Pacific Northwest forests is a vital strategy to mitigate the worst climate impacts, create jobs restoring lands and waters, and ensure forests and communities thrive for generations to come.

To kick off the week of action, activists hung 20 banners that called for forest protection over highway overpasses across Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana. This action coincided with the release of an open letter from more than 30 organizations to the Biden Administration and federal leaders.

“Protecting our remaining mature and old growth forests is crucial to mitigating the climate crisis and creating thriving climate-resilient communities,” says Madeline Cowen, steering committee member with the Pacific Northwest Forest Climate Alliance. “Our forests have tremendous capacity to absorb and store carbon — we must prioritize safeguarding them for community benefit over short-term corporate profit.”

More information about the connections between Pacific Northwest forests and climate change is here.