Rooted Thoughts from the Heartwood Chapter 8: Heather Moonier - From Desert Trails to NC Canopies

Every forest has a story, but for one of our newest board members, understanding that story comes down to noticing the micro-worlds thriving on a single branch. From her roots exploring the diverse ecosystems of the Sonoran Desert to earning her Master's in Wildlife Conservation at NC State and serving with the NC Forest Service's Forest Health program, Heather Moonier brings a lifelong curiosity and passion for resilient landscapes to our community.

We are thrilled to officially welcome her to the ForestHer NC Board! Read on to learn about her journey, her "think like a turtle" approach to exploring nature, and why she believes a healthy forest starts with a shared commitment to land stewardship.

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Years ago, a founding member told me about the formation of ForestHer and her vision for this community. I immediately felt compelled to get involved, but life was full, and I didn't have the time to give. I am grateful when life brings things full circle at the right time, as I’ve never stopped holding space for this organization and what it represents for women and land stewardship across North Carolina.

To me, ForestHer is a collaborative space where people from different walks of life come together through a shared commitment to learn and lift each other up to feel capable of being a good steward of their land. Though I only possess a little over a quarter acre (hopefully more in the future), I share in that commitment. As I write this, I’m watching black swallowtail caterpillars devour the patch of bronze fennel in my garden. Fall webworms have been munching away on a persimmon tree since early summer, and the coreopsis is long gone, eaten down to the ground by the neighborhood cottontails. I’ve always felt that if something is eating what I’ve planted, I’ve done something right. It will return next year. That same mindset applies on a larger scale, promoting healthy, more resilient forests that can be enjoyed for generations to come, which is becoming ever more important as land is converted to urban development.

At my core, I am passionate about all things wild, but am truly fascinated by the interconnectedness within an ecosystem. It is what brought me down the path I walk today. Fair warning: a walk with me in the woods is rarely a sprint because there is just so much to see and appreciate. While we tend to think of a forest as one big ecosystem, I am easily distracted by the micro world and how an entire thriving community can exist on just a single tree branch.

That fascination started early. Growing up in the Sonoran Desert with a family that loved the outdoors, I was fortunate to have it as my first classroom. I remember learning the names of the strange critters I found in tide pools with my dad on beach trips, and identifying desert plants on hikes with my mom as she took clippings to propagate in our yard. My grandmother, a nature and landscape photographer, taught me to appreciate the beauty of the natural world. We would walk for miles together, or sit and wait patiently for the exact moment the sun hit the horizon just right to capture a photo. Those moments taught me to slow down and observe, or think like a turtle, as my father used to say.

We spent summers doing everything we could to escape the oppressive 100°+ heat, whether that meant kayaking on the lake, leaving saguaro country and driving up north well beyond 7,000 feet to camp amongst Douglas fir and ponderosa pine, or exploring those tide pools in Southern California. Every fall, we would head up to the high-elevation pinyon-juniper woodlands to collect pine nuts. Winters were when we could finally enjoy the desert, and I’d hit the trails nearly every day. I’ve climbed every summit in the Valley of the Sun, also known as Phoenix. When people think of Arizona, they often picture a barren desert, but the state holds an impressive level of biodiversity. Traveling south to north, you witness a transition from desert to high-elevation alpine forests and even tundra. But over time, watching familiar spaces get converted to urban development shifted something in me, and I felt compelled to protect wild spaces so that future generations can enjoy them as I have, which drove me to pursue a degree in conservation.

When I moved to North Carolina, I was intimidated by how dense the forests are, but was excited to live in a state where carnivorous plants grow naturally.  As I took coursework in pursuit of a Bachelor's and then a Master's in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at NC State University, I grew more in love with the state and the rich biodiversity that exists from the Coastal Plain to the Appalachians. I remember in one of my first lectures, the professor spoke of thinning to open the canopy and the use of prescribed fire to promote certain plant communities. This was the complete opposite of what I learned; if anything, the desert could use some canopy, and using prescribed fire so frequently seemed reckless. And so, forest ecology caught my interest. I learned how to identify plants and insects. Learned to recognize snakes and salamanders by their patterns, birds and frogs by call, and signs of mammals by their skull and scat. Each class opened my eyes to see the forest with a new lens. I took special interest in learning which plants were important to the animals I wanted to observe as a way to get eyes on a species. I by no means know the names of everything I see or hear, but curiosity drives me to figure it out and continue learning.  Rounding out my final semester, I took a forest health class, and it was in that class that everything I genuinely geek out about aligned. I realized my true passion, where I can best contribute to conservation, sits at the intersection of plant-animal interactions and forest management. 

Once I graduated, I was fortunate to land my dream job with the Forest Health program within the North Carolina Forest Service. In this role, I wear many hats, but I find the most joy in the investigative and diagnostic process. I enjoy walking a property with a landowner, helping them understand factors that may be affecting their land, and bringing practical options and resources to the table to help them improve the long-term health of their woods. My goal is always to empower landowners to manage their properties in ways that keep their forests healthy and resilient for future generations. 

I am honored to introduce myself as one of the newest board members of ForestHer. I’m looking forward to meeting, learning from, and growing alongside all of you in the years ahead.

Sincerely,

Heather Moonier