Old Growth, New Hope: Why I’m Going on the Green Curtain Roadshow
July 8, 2026
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by Calvin Soule
White cedar. Bicknell’s thrush. Red fir. The gray wolf. Schreiber’s moss. Long-tailed rock shrew. Mountain maple. American bobcat. Hickory. Spotted salamander. Hemlock. Boreal chickadee. Larch.
These species represent just a few of those which benefit from climate refugia. The term refers to areas that naturally act as buffers against climate change. In other words, these places are more resilient in the face of climate change, offering respite to species which inhabit them. As clear-cuts, mining operations, and other industries continue to harvest, extract, and extinguish, these places require our protection.
Keep reading to find out what the “Green Curtain” is, why it matters, and what’s behind my personal decision to join.
What is a climate refugia?
Often, old growth forests act as climate refugia, particularly because of what they are: forests that have developed over centuries without disturbance. Old growth forests often have multi-layered canopies. Fallen, decomposing logs ensure nutrients recycle into rich soils and mycelial networks. Century after century these forests have nurtured and matured. And yet, on one afternoon, amidst one season, as part of one contract, a logging company can erase this vast ecology.
The Green Curtain Roadshow
From July 8-22, I’ll be among the group of Stonecoast students, alumni, and professors traveling from Maine to Montana to witness these old growth ecosystems. We will meet with local stakeholders and add their voice to the chorus calling to protect these climate refugia. When these climate refugia are protected, they will form a “Green Curtain” across the northern United States.
Traveling in a nine passenger van, the Green Curtain Roadshow will go hiking with local guides to old growth stands, play the Black Ram Guitar with its old growth siblings, visit the Tree Archangel Tree Archive, collaborate with other artists, and stand in the Yaak Valley, where professor, environmental activist, award-winning author, and Green Curtain Roadshow participant Rick Bass will lead the group to the hallowed and at-risk places in his home valley. Each stop presents an opportunity to plant seeds: to share information about why a Green Curtain is vital, and why our collective voices can actualize this vision. Afterwards, students and Green Curtain advocates will publish an anthology giving literary life to this forward-looking idea.
The Black Ram Guitar
The Guitar is made from a four foot section of a 315-year-old Engelmann spruce that was rescued from a timber sale. It has been played by musicians including Jeff Bridges, Maggie Rogers, and James McMurtry.
Mapping the Green Curtain
The Green Curtain map documents old growth forests both felled and those still standing (and in need of protection).
Why I’m participating
Six years ago, I graduated from Bowdoin College with a degree in environmental studies, politics, and history. Having also spent time in climate activism, I felt worn down by the state of the world, especially given the government’s continued shortsightedness to extract instead of protect. I found hope in a familiar, yet unexpected place: teaching at a public middle school.
While it is true I hope to write and publish work documenting the Green Curtain, my participation, like old growth forests, is a multi-layered canopy. I hope my participation models for my students that anyone can be a changemaker in their community; that everyone can be an engaged citizen; that life-long learning is vital to a fulfilling, engaged life; and that their future will be protected; that they can be leaders in creating a better 250 years in the United States.
My participation also honors the incredible community at Stonecoast, the staff and students who have sharpened my skills and have deepened the direction my writing has taken me. I’m participating to leverage (and believe in) my skills and voice as a writer now, so that the future can benefit from the climate refugia which will be protected. I’m participating to stand in the Yaak valley, a place I’ve read so much about, courtesy of Rick Bass, an author who has now inspired so many words of my own, and who will be standing there with us. Finally, I’m participating to express myself in the way which has always felt the most comfortable and empowering to me: through written word.
Our goals for the roadshow
As a current Stonecoast MFA student (and local educator), I feel fortunate to be going on the Green Curtain Roadshow. Here’s what we’re hoping to accomplish:
1.
First and foremost, student-activists will be witness to these sacred spaces
By working with and learning from local non-profits, scientists, environmental activists and advocates, and indigenous peoples, we hope to understand these places and their importance in respect to history, culture, and place.
2.
We see it as our duty as citizens and artists to document these places under threat.
As a Stonecoast student, I hope to write about these places and to communicate understanding about what a “green curtain” might look like. I will write essays, poems, and fiction in conversation with these places. And I will not be alone — artists, musicians, and writers on the roadshow will do the same. These spaces matter now, and they will matter more to our youth, and to the future generations which will follow.
3.
Lastly, I approach this as a mission of hope.
The world can feel apocalyptic sometimes. It can overwhelm us. But we can always choose hope. We can activate our agency. We can advocate for protection over profit.
Add your voice
Our friends, classmates, professors, and community members who are unable to join us on this journey can still be part of the project. Follow our website and socials — we’ll be posting prompts along the way inviting written submissions for an anthology of the trip, as well as opportunities to pick up your pen, hop on your device, and add your voice with ours.
Follow along and support us
Instagram: @gcroadshow
Website: https://greencurtainroadshow.org/
Read with us along the way
- In Montana, a Threatened Swath of Old Growth Fuels a Longstanding Debate
- Old-Growth Forests Know How to Protect Themselves from Fire
- The Book of Yaak by Rick Bass (Non-fiction)
- Last Stand: Logging, Journalism, and the Case for Humility by Richard Manning (Non-fiction)
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Non-fiction)
- The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson (Fiction)
- The Overstory by Richard Powers (Fiction)
