Secrets of the Forest on Demand

WALLA WALLA-Blue Mountain Television proudly presents Secret Life of the Forest: The Northern Blue Mountains to stream for free. The 13-part series explores the natural history of the northern Blue Mountains.

Bask in the beauty and splendor of this massive mountain range and the plants and animals that inhabit this little-known landscape without leaving the comfort of home.

Author and conservationist Mike Denny provides context throughout the journey connecting wildlife to our local landscape's uniqueness. Denny is the author of the books Birds of the Inland Northwest and the Northern Rockies and Where the Great River Bends: A Natural and Human History of the Columbia at Wallula. Denny's vast knowledge of the Blue Mountains combined with Daniel Biggs' photography creates an awe-inspiring account of life in the northern Blue Mountains.

Episodes can be streamed on-demand, meaning the series can be viewed at your leisure until November 21. The series is available through an internet browser, Apple TV, or Roku. Relax on your own or with family and get a little closer to the Blues together. Don't dally; there are 13 episodes, each about half an hour long.

The series begins with an introduction to the Blue Mountain range as a whole. The range stretches 400 miles long and 100 miles wide, covering most of Northeast Oregon and up into Southeast Washington.

What appears to be inhospitable terrain nurtures many iterations of natural life, and the nurturing begins with the soil, which acts as the foundation of life. The soil in the Blue Mountain region sets the stage for the plants, which, in turn, support other forms of life. Slope, aspect, and weather have a close relationship with the vitality and variety of life in an area, and ours is rich in composition and history.

The extensive biodiversity in the area is spurred on by its pollinators. The Blue Mountains host migrations of several species, including some stunning butterflies, birds, and bees.

Speaking of birds, right across the northern Blue Mountains in each forested parcel lives good numbers of nocturnal and diurnal raptors. These owls, hawks, eagles, and falcons are essential to the ecology and balance of the area but can take even an accomplished birder a lifetime to see. In The Birds of Prey episode, spectacular nighttime footage reveals where they hunt rodents, reptiles, rabbits, birds, pup coyotes, fawn deer, and insects.

The series continues with the onset of spring, which animates the area as the snow melts and waters the rocky soil until lush green grasses emerge. Looking close to the last patches of snow from the winter, the Blues observe fascinating insects such as snow spiders that survive icy conditions comfortably due to a type of antifreeze in their systems.

Early May brings out the petals of several native flower species and black bears.

All predators that inhabit the northern Blues provide a service that maintains their populations and assist in managing and supporting their prey base by removing a percentage of prey species consistently. The issue is that most populations of prey species are cyclic yet unstable, with both high and low year populations that significantly affect their predators. Beaver, gray wolves, and ants also play vital roles in the health of the Northern Blue Mountains.

Across the northern Blue Mountains starting in mid-June are sites that have dried out and can now support site-specific plant species that don't grow under shade or moist soils. These native plants can flourish on lithosol slopes, old gravel pits, south-facing road cuts, and thin soiled western aspect sites. Appearing on these inhospitable sites are beautiful blooming plants and other unusual creatures.

Having covered maybe 3.5% of the native living organisms within the northern Blue Mountain, the forest's secret is that there is always more to learn. The Secret Life of the Forest: The Northern Blue Mountains is an educational opportunity presented by Blue Mountain Land Trust. To register, navigate to https://bmlt.org/events and click Register before November 21.