Finding The Mother Tree author digs deep into forest renewal for new book

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Within that intergenerational approach, Simard leans heavily on Indigenous traditions. The combination of Western scientific methodology and holistic Indigenous approaches, Simard says, not only makes for good science, but it is a step in the right direction to address and repair colonial damage.

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“It’s not just me and my students,” said Simard. “Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people, we’re working side by side, doing this what they call co-production research. We’re bringing in intercultural philosophies and ways of doing things and creating kinship amongst us as Canadians, this is a really important example of how you do truth and reconciliation work.”

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Simard, who calls Nelson home, will be in Vancouver on May 21 for a Writers Fest Books & Ideas event at 7:30 p.m. at the Lindsay Family Stage on Granville Island. You can get tickets HERE. Events like this offer Simard a chance to get out of the woods to talk with people who are interested in her work and interested in helping to make a positive difference in the world.

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“It’s really uplifting,” said Simard. “People are coming in droves because they’re so engaged with what’s happening around them. What’s happening in our forest? What’s happening with climate change? The fires, the floods? So, everybody’s living it. … They want to know, what can I do? How can I become involved?

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“They’re coming with their hearts and their minds open.”

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And Simard says they want a way to lessen the dread that comes with contemplating the climate.

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“One of the common questions I get is, what keeps you hopeful?” said Simard. “I always talk about how the forest teaches us to be hopeful because it’s regenerative, and it shows us all the time that it heals … The antidote to despair is to just get out there and see it because it’s just showing us this all the time. I think when we’re in the cities and we’re so disconnected that we forget. But you remember right away when you’re in the forest.”

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Finding the Mother Tree made Simard a star. She was booked on talk shows, featured in publications, and she is the primary inspiration for Patricia Westerford, a main character in Richard Powers’ 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Overstory. She was also name checked in Ted Lasso season 2 episode 11 when Coach Beard says: “You know, we used to believe that trees competed with each other for light. Suzanne Simard’s field work challenged that perception, and we now realize that the forest is a socialist community. Trees work in harmony to share the sunlight.”

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Simard says the success of Finding The Mother Tree, which has been translated into 21 languages, blew her away and completely changed her life — a life that just may end up on the big screen in the near future as the film adaptation with Amy Adams is still in the works.

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“It’s moving along. It’s slow,” said Simard about the film project, adding a screenwriter and production team are now in place. “When books are optioned, there’s only a small chance that they’re going to get turned into a film. I think for this, the chance has gone up to at least 50 per cent at this point. So that’s good.”

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Positive pop culture mentions are great calling cards for conservation, and they can deliver an inspirational and memorable message that reminds people that change can occur; we just have to get some mud on our boots.

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“There’s a lot of hope. I think that’s the most important message that we have this capacity to do well, to work in a positive way with the environment,” said Simard, who is about to go on a sabbatical year to work on a new book. “We have solutions wired right into us. We have everything we need to solve these problems, but we have to have hope. And that has to be done with agency, which is what Jane Goodall always said too.

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“Hope is great, but you have to do something about it to make sure that it moves in a good direction.”

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