Private · Not for Distribution
Songs of the Ancient Forest
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In the Yaak Valley of northwest Montana sits Unit 72 — 192 acres of untouched, primary forest, among the last true old growth left in the Lower 48.
In August 2023, a federal judge halted the Forest Service's Black Ram logging project here, citing harm to grizzly bears and the outsized role this forest plays in storing carbon. The ruling isn't permanent — the agency has said it could bring the project back at any time.
Around that same time, a 315-year-old spruce fell at the edge of this forest. Master luthier Kevin Kopp built a guitar from its wood. Jeff Bridges heard it played, then commissioned six more through Breedlove Guitars, and carried the original back into the Yaak to be played on the very stump it came from. He now narrates our film about it.
We've spent the last two years on the ground with Rick Bass — the Yaak Valley Forest Council's co-founder, a Guggenheim Fellow, and the writer who's led this fight for nearly three decades — documenting the guitar, the musicians it's brought together, and the forest it came from.
Federal proposals could roll back the Roadless Rule — the policy that has protected inventoried roadless areas nationwide for over twenty years — and national parks and public lands are under new pressure everywhere. Hope isn't naive right now. It's necessary.
The film is halfway shot. The next two years may be the hardest stretch yet for wild places like this — funding right now goes toward four things.
Crew days and travel to complete a film that's currently only half shot.
Get a crew into the Yaak on short notice to record any logging or damage as it happens.
Travel and session costs to bring the Black Ram guitar to more musicians.
Commission T Bone Burnett to write and produce a signature piece of music for the film.
A single crew trip. One more musician's session. A piece of the commission. Write to us and we'll walk you through where the film stands and how to give.
Get in TouchThis is a living campaign, not just a film. Beyond funding, here's where else to plug in.
Play the guitar, write a song, contribute art inspired by the Yaak — join the growing group of artists lending their talent to this fight.
We're looking for producers, editors, audio engineers, camera operators, still photographers, and writers willing to help finish this film.