Emmy-winning Filmmaker Jesse Andrew Clark’s newest indie doc follows rural Oregon families’ struggles to stay safe from aerial spraying of forestry herbicides.
OREGON, USA – Following the success of the pilot episode of his Forest Stories film series, director Jesse Andrew Clark’s newest film in the series, titled Free to Grow, will debut at the Manzanita Film Festival on Saturday, October 4th.
While most places in the U.S., and nations around the world have already outlawed the use of certain herbicides in agriculture and forestry, many Oregonians are exposed to these dangerous chemicals routinely.
“The subjects I follow in the film convey the urgent need to overhaul one of the oldest industrial forestry practices,” Clark notes. “The film shows how folks living near working forests, as well as forest workers themselves, bear the brunt of health effects, and are often left with little or no recourse.”
Weaving historic archival clips with never-before-seen modern-day footage, the film is a provocative portrait of families grappling with the realities of herbicide exposure in their own backyards. Clark says the half-hour documentary may spark awareness and conversation around who pays the unseen price of this common so-called cost-saving management method.
This short film is the second episode Clark’s ‘Forest Stories’ film series. Clark says the series aims to shed light on overlooked aspects of Oregon forestry. “One hope of this film, and this series, is to re-frame the value of Oregon forests,” Clark says. “It asks people to consider the long-term, asking: what is the true worth of our great Pacific Northwest forests, and what are the true cost-benefits of some of these existing practices?”
Tickets for the October 4th World Premiere of Free to Grow are on sale now at ManzanitaFilmFestival.com. The film will play during the Documentary block, from 4:00pm-5:30pm. Q&A with several of the filmmakers to follow.
Free to Grow is also an official selection of the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival 2025.
Learn more about the film and the Forest Stories series at OldGroveFilms.com. Old Grove Films social: @oldgrovefilms
Jesse Andrew Clark social: @jesseandrewclark
About “Free to Grow”
In Oregon, where “clearcut is king” according to common forestry practice, helicopters spray herbicide mixtures on newly-leveled and replanted forests to prevent competing vegetation from taking hold, speeding up timber growth– and profit. Much like mono-crop agriculture, timber companies manage timber plantations of densely planted, marketable tree species by treating areas with herbicides. But poor oversight of forestry laws and a chemical industry rooted in the military industrial complex have led to repeated cases of toxic exposure to herbicides from aerial spray drift or contaminated water. Despite bans in dozens of other countries and states, many compounds are still allowed in the forestry sector on private and state lands. Federal Forests in Oregon and Washington, in contrast, no longer utilize herbicides for vegetation management and manage weeds by hand– a labor intensive but non-toxic method that puts communities to work.
Quietly dismissed by agency, silenced by industry, and threatened by fellow community, rural families in the Pacific Northwest have lived alongside industrial forestry herbicides for more than 80 years. The film spans four storylines that point to an ongoing public health risk caused by these industrial practices on Oregon’s most aggressively managed timber plantations.
About The Filmmaker
Jesse Andrew Clark is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker and founder of Old Grove Films, producing original stories that move the dial on forest and watershed conservation issues. Jesse worked as cinematographer and feature editor on the Emmy award-winning COVENANT OF THE SALMON PEOPLE (2023, dir. Shane Anderson), telling the story of the Nez Perce tribe’s fight for environmental justice. His directorial debut, CHEHALIS: A WATERSHED MOMENT (2020) has enjoyed national syndication via PBS. Jesse’s cinematography and timelapse work has been featured in three Vimeo staff picks, the Discovery Channel, and Outside Magazine. The pilot episode of his forestry-themed film series took home 1st place at the McMinnville Short film fest in 2024.