Damnation Spring

Rich does not reveal his plans to his wife Colleen or young son Chub. But he does take the two on a walk up to the ridge to see the 24-7 up close. Colleen is pensive. In the spring, she miscarried at five months. The loss has made things difficult between her and Rich. Rich seems not to want to talk about it, and although Colleen yearns to try again for a baby, Rich is avoiding intimacy with her. Colleen feels unwanted. Rich believes he is protecting her from another devastating loss. The pair fail to communicate this to each other.

After visiting the 24-7, Rich checks the water line that carries water from Damnation Creek to the family home. He uses the occasion to give Chub another lesson on the local geography, drumming rhymes into the boy that will help him orient himself in the confusing landscape. As they reach Damnation Grove—Sanderson Land—Rich notes the quality of the existing access road and that regular spraying of herbicide by the timber company keeps it clear and the undergrowth down.

A nervous Rich meets Jim Mueller at the bank. Rich puts $25,000 down to secure the loan to buy the ridge from Jim, money he and Colleen set aside to renovate their home. That only leaves him around $2,000 in savings to service the loan while he waits for Sanderson’s roads to be built. He gives the bank a post office box address for bills, so he can conceal the purchase from his wife. He hides the deed in his truck’s glove compartment.

At the drugstore, meanwhile, Colleen bumps into an old flame, Daniel Bywater. Colleen hasn’t seen him for 16 years—she is 34 now. Daniel reveals he has returned to the area to study the local waterways. A member of the Yurok people, Daniel has noted how low salmon numbers have fallen. The salmon are a vital food source for the Yurok. Daniel also says that damming is affecting water levels, warm-water run-off is killing wildlife, and silt is blocking waterways: “I wouldn’t be drinking out of those creeks anymore,” he warns Colleen. As they talk, Colleen remembers their complicated past: Daniel, though a pariah at school, was Colleen’s first lover.

Colleen’s neighbor Melody Larson interrupts the two of them. Melody is pregnant and thanks Colleen for some exercises she recommended to her, which helped turn the baby back from a breech position. Colleen, an amateur midwife, promises to check on her in a few days. She and Daniel part, though not before Daniel meets Chub and learns that Colleen is married.

At home that evening, Colleen tries to confront Rich about their lack of intimacy, but Rich doesn’t hear her, and Colleen does not persist.

The family walk up to the 24-7 Ridge again, but despite his excitement and anxiety, Rich keeps his secret about owning it. Colleen is awash with emotion—today would have been the due date of the baby she lost.

Later, on the way to a company dinner, the family comes across environmental protesters blocking a local road. Colleen still has her miscarriage on her mind, but Rich and other Sanderson workers express frustration about the demonstration.

Rich joins the rest of the Sanderson crew to begin the long-awaited harvest of Damnation Grove. There are some new workers in the crew, including a young Sanderson and Tom Feeley, who like Rich is the son of a deceased logger. Rich takes Tom under his wing and shows the dangerous work at hand. Joining Rich are other stalwarts including his brother-in-law Eugene, the foreman Don Porter, and Pete Peterson, a local legend for his skill at bringing redwoods down. During the day’s hard work, Don calls Rich over: He has found a human skull. Don is a responsible foreman, and both he and Rich know he will report the unusual find to their boss Merle Sanderson.

Colleen walks with Chub to buy eggs from their neighbor Joanna, who lives in Colleen’s old family home following the death of her and her sister Enid’s mother. Joanna is something of a pariah in the community, due to her husband Jed falling out with Merle Sanderson and losing his job with the logging company. No one want to suffer the same fate. But Colleen continues to buy Joanna’s eggs to help her out. On this visit, Joanna notes that Sanderson sprayed overhead from a helicopter recently. Even Colleen can smell the chemicals in the air. In the barn, Chub discovers one of Joanna’s newborn chicks is deformed.

Rich and the other workers have been moved off the redwoods to harvest young Douglas firs instead, due to the discovery of the skull. Merle Sanderson plans to use the opportunity to lower the men’s pay rate, increasing Rich’s financial worries. Without giving anything away, Rich chats with Don and Pete about the situation at Damnation Grove. Pete points out that the state could yet incorporate Damnation Grove into its protected parkland. Don is skeptical but points out that once Sanderson harvests the redwoods in the Grove, the company will likely close its nearest mill. Rich’s anxiety rises: He needs access roads and Sanderson’s mill to make his purchase pay dividends, or the 24-7 Ridge will be his ruin.