Help Harvard Forest Protect Wildlands and Woodlands in Massachusetts

A letter sent out to friends of the Harvard Forest

"We propose a regional program of forest conservation that is based on a simple design from conservation biology, but that extends this thinking in important new ways. This design features a series of large forest reserves in which natural processes dominate and human impact is minimized (Wildlands), embedded within expansive forestland that is protected from development but managed in an ecologically sustainable manner for diverse values and products (Woodlands)."

From: Wildlands and Woodlands, the next Harvard Forest Paper. For Entire Report and more

Dear Friend of the Harvard Forest:

For decades scientists at the Harvard Forest have conducted forest research in New England and beyond. From the early days of Richard Fisher through the work of Hugh Raup and Ernie Gould to the present, the results have informed forest management practices and public policies around the world. In 2004 we initiated a project calling for new, broad-scale thinking and action in the conservation of forest landscapes. This vision will be articulated in the next Harvard Forest Paper: Wildlands and Woodlands - A Thirty Year Vision for the Forests of Massachusetts. It will be published in March 2005 and we are writing to seek your assistance in funding the publication, distribution, and application of this vision. This significant effort will cost in excess of $50,000.

In recent years we at the Harvard Forest have undertaken more active conservation planning by working with local organizations like the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust (MGLCT), regional entities such as the Massachusetts Audubon Society (MAS) and The Trustees of Reservations (TTOR), state agencies, and national organizations including The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. National Park Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. Just this past year, with your help, we invested considerable effort in local forest protection. For example, we protected land bordering the Harvard Forest from development and recently partnered with MGLCT, TTOR, MAS and others to submit a $3.8 million proposal to the U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy Program to protect over 2000 acres of land in central Massachusetts.

We have already demonstrated measurable success influencing conservation and management policy, albeit on a much smaller scale, through our 1999 paper "Historical Influences on the Landscape of Martha's Vineyard: Perspectives on the Management of the Manuel F. Correllus Sate Forest"(MFCSF), in which we recognized "the unusual opportunity to manage MFCSF as a large, functioning natural ecosystem" and recommended "significant reduction or elimination of the conifer plantations on MFCSF." Initially, due to disagreements between the two state agencies responsible for MFCSF little management or restoration occurred. However, as just recently reported in the Vineyard Gazette, "the recommendations of the Harvard Forest study have won out."

Now, our forest research and conservation efforts have convinced us that a window of opportunity exists to promote new thinking and action for forest conservation and management in the Eastern United States. In response, a group of nine researchers began last year to develop these ideas into the Wildlands and Woodlands paper. Based on strong positive response from the conservation community, we plan to publish the paper as a four-color report accessible to non-scientists and to distribute it broadly to landowners, politicians, conservation professionals and organizations, educators, politicians, and agencies. We also hope to work collaboratively with a wide range of environmental, forestry, wildlife, and recreational groups and agencies to promote this vision for forest conservation here in Massachusetts and across the eastern U.S.

In brief this paper proposes:

• to add approximately 1.5 million acres to Massachusetts's existing protected land base of 1 million acres to reach a target of 2.5 million acres - half of the state
• that at least 250,000 of these acres should be protected in large Wildland reserves that are embedded within the 2.25 million remaining acres of Woodlands managed for diverse biodiversity, environmental, and natural resource objectives
• a framework for conservation that will rely on mutually reinforcing public/private collaboration, labor and financing
• that reserved Wildlands and managed Woodlands will maintain and enhance the state's biodiversity while offering future generations environmental services, aesthetic attributes, and economic benefits beyond what is conceivable today

The endeavor of distilling and communicating science beyond the academy is one not typically funded by traditional sources for scientific research. So we turn to you for your assistance and ask that you consider making a contribution to Harvard Forest before the end of the year.

Without doubt this is an unusual and exciting project for the Harvard Forest for it makes our research directly applicable to the lives and activities of a broad population today and far into the future. We ask that you help us launch this effort and contribute towards a new vision for our New England landscape.

If you would like to assist in funding the publication, distribution, and application of this vision please mail your tax deductible contribution to:

The Wildlands and Woodlands Project
Harvard Forest
Post Office Box 68
Petersham, Massachusetts 01366-0068

Make check payable to "Harvard University." Thank you.

If you need more information please contact hampson@fas.harvard.edu

With best wishes and many thanks.

David R. Foster    Director

John O'Keefe    Coordinator of the Fisher Museum