Cottrell-Baldwin Series 2022: A Look Back Through the Trees

Join us Tuesday evenings as the 2022 Cottrell-Baldwin Lecture Series reaches back in time (and to neighboring Maine) to explore relationships between cultural history, natural history, wildlife, water, land use, recreation and conservation in the forests of northern New England. Each year, the popular late-winter Cottrell-Baldwin Environmental Lecture Series celebrates the environmental and scholarly legacy of Annette and Bill Cottrell and State Research Forester, Henry I. Baldwin. The series is sponsored by NH Division of Forests and Lands and the Forest Society.

• Space may be limited due to COVID-19 restrictions; please register in advance for each program on our events page to save your seat! Detailed descriptions can be found on each lecture's page.

Tuesday, March 15 at 7 PM- FULL
Humans and Nature in the Monadnock Region:
The First 12,000 Years
Speaker: Dr. Robert Goodby
Advance registration requested. Free!
Baldwin Environmental Center,
Fox Forest, Hillsboro

Tuesday, March 22 at 7 PM
Dive into the History of Livermore Falls
Speakers: Archeologists Mark Doperalski & David Trubey
Advance registration requested. Free!
Baldwin Environmental Center,
Fox Forest, Hillsboro

Tuesday, March 29 at 7 PM
Up for Grabs! Timber Pirates, Lumber Barons, and the Battles Over Maine’s Public Lands
Speaker: Author Thomas Urquhart
Advance registration requested. Free!
Baldwin Environmental Center,
Fox Forest, Hillsboro

Tuesday, April 5 at 7 PM- FULL
Allagash: New England's Wild River
Speakers: Tim & Susan Caverly
Advance registration requested. Free!
Baldwin Environmental Center,
Fox Forest, Hillsboro

About the Cottrell-Baldwin Series

Full capacity crowds have packed Fox Forest classroom in past years. (Photo: Dave Anderson)

2021 PROGRAMS

April 6: Fresh Water Connections with Jim Rousmaniere

In this pre-recorded presentation, journalist and historian Jim Rousmaniere explores the many relationships between inland waters and surrounding lands. As was expressed in the constitutional logic behind the Weeks Act that led to the protection of the White Mountains, land and water are connected. This presentation is based partly on research that went into Rousmaniere's "Water Connections" (a non-fiction book published in 2019 about what inland waters mean to us and what we mean to water). The talk explores recent experiences involving contamination, floods, stream crossings and citizen action, among other topics.

Learn more:

• Learn more about Jim's work, how to take action on clean water, and order the book here;
• Soak Up the Rain NH;
• Watch The Merrimack: River at Risk about the Merrimack River watershed.

March 30: Edible Wild Plants of the Granite State with Russ Cohen, author of "Wild Plants I Have Known... and Eaten."

In this virtual education program, Russ Cohen, expert forager and author of, "Wild Plants I Have Known...and Eaten," shares his knowledge of #ediblewildplants. The Granite State is home to over 100 species, some of which are more nutritious and/or flavorful than their cultivated counterparts. Connect with over 40 of the tastiest species the region has to offer — ranging from plants everyone knows, like Daisies and Dandelions, to plants you may never have even heard of, like Calamus and Carrion Flower. The presentation covers identification tips, edible portion(s), season(s) of availability and preparation methods, along with general guidelines for safe and environmentally responsible foraging. Learn about native edible plants raised from seed and partnerships with conservation groups to add edible native plants to the landscape.

March 23: New England Cottontail Restoration with Heidi Holman, NH Fish and Game Department Wildlife Diversity Biologist

In this pre-recorded presentation, Heidi Holman, Wildlife Diversity Biologist at NH Fish & Game, will look at 10 years of hard work to restore the native cottontail. Until recently, the New England cottontail was a candidate for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act. For years, shrubby thickets and young forests, primary habitat for the species, has declined due to changes in human land use. Since 2008, hundreds of partners from state and federal agencies, municipalities, conservation organizations, zoos and private land owners have been working together across the historical NE cottontail range on a recovery effort to reverse the decline and bring back our native rabbit while providing benefits to over 60 other species that live in these habitats. (Photo: NH Fish & Game)

Learn more:

• NH Rabit Reports: become a community scientist and share your rabbit sighting!
• Working together for the New England Cottontail.

March 16, 2021: Trout Stream Restoration with John Magee, Fish Habitat Biologist, NH Fish and Game Department

Streams and riparian forests are dynamic, changing dramatically over decades. Research in the last 30 years sheds light on the interconnections of streams and riparian areas as integral parts of stream ecosystems. Research demonstrates the importance of wood in streams to fish habitat and nutrient cycling and emerging information on the role of light on the productivity of stream ecosystems. Learn about research in NH and beyond on fish habitat, instream wood and what we may expect in the coming decades as our forests age. John will share stream restoration projects that use knowledge of stream and riparian processes to restore health to formerly degraded ecosystems.

Learn more:

• John recommended the children's book, Trout are Made of Trees.
• Learn about NH Fish & Game's NH Fish Habitat Program.
• Read "Go Fish, Improving Brook Trout Habitat, One Log at a Time," by Carrie Deegan, in the 2018-19 issue of Forest Notes on page 14.
• Watch Carrie Deegan's virtual field trip to fish for tiny trout with her family on Facebook.