Forest Society History

Following the fire that destroyed the historic Tool Building and former Electric Plant used as a gift shop at the Rocks, messages and comments came streaming in.

I recently shared my plan to retire in October 2019 with the Forest Society board, staff, and supporters. After 22 years, I’m ready to spend more time exploring the land the Forest Society has protected during my tenure here.

The Forest Society’s forest conservation efforts protect myriad historic resources including hidden cemeteries… and tales they contain.

The story of Lost River, the Forest Society's oldest Forest Reservation on the occasion of its 100th anniversary as a special conserved place in New Hampshire.

Thanksgiving leftovers in my kitchen include Chinese chestnut-stuffing.

Rural survival once depended on an ability to read the land; to see and sense patterns and to respond to changing seasons and weather. Robert Frost described his emotional response to a tree tossing in the wind outside his bedroom window as "inner weather." New England has a rich tradition of …

Morning chores offer a brief, yet vital connection to the land, a respite from the rapid pace of instant communication and the perils of electronic overload: a continuous stream of news, weather, sports and entertainment. The pace of modern life and its constant rapid change are like fresh …

The gift of the glacier was a rugged bequest: A landscape too wild, rocky, broken, and steep for even the craftiest of loggers.

 Legend has it that Lyman and Royal Jackman accidentally discovered the “Shadow Cave” in what is now the Forest Society’s oldest Forest Reservation, …

Hiking through 75 years of Forest Notes magazine archives reveals not-so-subtle cultural shifts that accompanied demographic changes and the afforestation in New Hampshire.

Over the past 75 years we lost scenic open vistas from hillside farms with pastures once devoid of trees. …