From the Ground Up: Conservation in New England

An article written and read by Paul Breeden.Paul Breeden decided as a little boy to someday work for National Geographic. His first published artwork was in National Geographic magazine. From there he went on to illustrate for various other national and international magazines, books, and a U.S. postage stamp. His work was featured at the National Gallery of Art, American Botanical Artists, Brandywine Museum, Geosphere, International Earth Summit, The White House, and 100 Years of Illustration. Having worked in a variety of media, including calligraphy and photography, Paul now primarily paints acrylic Maine landscapes, mountains, and the working waterfront. For fun he paints mind-boggling trompe l’oeil watercolors.See the photos and read the full article here. Discover additional content in the Spring 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A book recommendation read by Liz Thompson.Liz Thompson, Managing Editor of From the Ground Up, is an ecologist from Vermont who has explored, photographed, written about, and helped conserve many wild places. She serves on the board of Northeast Wilderness Trust.Read the book recommendation and discover additional content in the Spring 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An poem written and read by Scudder Parker.Scudder Parker’s first volume of poetry, Safe as Lightning, released in June 2020 by Rootstock Publishing, was awarded the Best Poetry Book of 2020 by the Independent Publishers of New England (IPNE). Scudder’s poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals including Sun Magazine, Crosswinds, The Lascaux Review, Sky Island Journal, Vermont Life, Northern Woodlands, and Twyckenham. “The Poem of the World” was selected as a finalist in the Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest.For Scudder, poetry is the search for truthfulness, not homage to conclusion. It is exploration—fit of bone in socket, bees at riot in oregano blossoms, ache of old injustice summoning an opened heart, the strange joy of longing, laughter at long-defended foolishness. Family, farming, failing, finding. Foraging for the innocent sacred, patient in our midst. Scudder’s had numerous careers—preacher, organizer, gardener, politician, energy consultant, poet—and is still learning from each of them. His new volume, The Poem of the World, published by Kelsay Books, is now available in bookstores and online. You can follow Scudder’s work at Substack.Read the poem and discover additional content in the Spring 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An poem written and read by Angela Patten.Angela Patten’s publications include five poetry collections, and her work has appeared in many literary journals and anthologies. Winner of the 2022 Anthony Cronin International Short Poem Award and other awards, Patten has received artist grants from the University of Vermont Retired Scholars Award Program, the Vermont Arts Council, and the Vermont Community Foundation. She has served as visiting writer at several institutions. Born and raised in Dublin, she maintains dual citizenship in Ireland and the United States. She lives in Burlington, Vermont, and is a Senior Lecturer Emerita in English at the University of Vermont.read the poem and discover additional content in the Spring 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An article written and read by Chelsea Steinauer-ScudderChelsea Steinauer-Scudder is the author of Mother, Creature, Kin: What We Learn From Nature’s Mothers in a Time of Unraveling, published by Broadleaf Books in spring 2025. Her writing can also be found in The Atlantic, Emergence Magazine, The Common, the EcoTheo Review, the edited poetry collection Writing the Land, and in Katie Holten’s The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape. She lives with her family in Rochester, Vermont.Read the full article and discover additional content in the Spring 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An interview with Carter Newell, conducted and edited by Liz Thompson.Carter Newell has been farming shellfish since 1982, founded Pemaquid Mussel Farms and Pemaquid Oyster Company, and has an MS in oceanography and a PhD in marine biology. In addition to being the captain of the mussel barge Mumbles and the Oyster Girl 2, he is active studying estuaries, modeling bivalve growth, developing aquaculture GIS systems, scuba diving, and playing the fiddle.Liz Thompson is Managing Editor of From the Ground Up. She is an ecologist whose early training included summers on the Maine coast.Read the edited transcript and discover additional content in the Spring 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An article written and read by Alex Redfield.Alex Redfield is the Policy Director for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities. On the farm, in state government, and in conservation policy circles, his work for the past 20 years has centered on supporting a just transition of New England’s landscape toward an equitable future. He lives in South Portland, Maine.Read the full article and discover additional insights in the Spring 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An article written and read by Meg Graham MacLean.Meg Graham MacLean is a Senior Lecturer and Research Scholar of carbon accounting at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. She is passionate about collaborating with forestry, environmental, and community leaders at all levels to better understand the human-environment interactions that impact our forest ecosystems. Her research uses innovative quantitative methods to explore how the forested landscape is changing due to human and climate pressures, the impacts of these changes on forest ecosystems and carbon dynamics, and how to monitor and model these changes with the goal of informing policy and management decisions. Learn moreRead the full article and discover additional content in the Winter 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An article written and read by Christopher McGrory Klyza.Christopher McGrory Klyza is Stafford Professor of Public Policy, Political Science, and Environmental Studies at Middlebury College. He is the author or editor of five books on conservation and environmental policy including Wilderness Comes Home, The Story of Vermont, The Future of the Northern Forest, and Who Controls Public Lands?Read the full article and discover additional content in the Winter 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An article written and ready by John M. Hagan. John Hagan is a forest ecologist and President of the nonprofit Our Climate Common, based in Georgetown, Maine. He has studied Maine’s working forest landscape for 33 years. For more information about the Late-Successional and Old Growth (LSOG) mapping project, see Hagan et al., 2024 . If you would like help determining whether LiDAR might be useful for your area, contact John Hagan at [email protected] the full article and discover additional content in the Winter 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An article written and read by Joan Maloof.Dr. Joan Maloof is founder of the Old-Growth Forest Network; Professor Emeritus in Biology at Salisbury University; and author of numerous articles and books, including Nature’s Temples: A Natural History of Old-Growth Forests, Among the Ancients: Adventures in the Eastern Old-Growth Forests, and Treepedia. Her newest book, Forty Ways to Know a Tree, will be released in April 2026.Read the full article and discover additional content in the Winter 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A poem written and read by Robert T. Perschel.Robert (Bob) Perschel joined the New England Forestry Foundation in April 2012 and retired in 2024. In his 40 years as an environmental professional, he has worked on forestry, large landscape conservation, and wilderness issues. Bob worked for the forest industry before establishing his own forestry consulting business and founding the Land Ethic Institute. He then worked in leadership positions for The Wilderness Society and Forest Stewards Guild. Bob has a master’s degree in forestry from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a psychology degree from Yale College.Read the short poem and discover additional content in the Fall 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An article written and read by Alex Redfield.Alex Redfield is the Policy Director for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities. On the farm, in state government, and in conservation policy circles, his work for the past 20 years has centered on supporting a just transition of New England’s landscape toward an equitable future. He lives in South Portland, Maine.Read the full article and discover additional insights in the Winter 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A feature article written and read by Lynda V. Mapes.Lynda Mapes was a keynote speaker at the recent Northeastern Old Growth Conference and is the author of six books on the natural and cultural history of the Pacific Northwest. Lynda has been awarded the Washington State Book Award; the National Outdoor Book Award; and the Kavli Gold Award for Science Writing by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the world’s most prestigious science writing awards. For 27 years she covered environmental news, nature and Native cultures and governments at the Seattle Times. Lynda’s newest book, The Trees are Speaking: Dispatches from the Salmon Forests, is published by the University of Washington Press.Read the full feature article and discover additional content in the Winter 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A poem written and ready by Derek Sheffield.Derek Sheffield is the eighth poet laureate of Washington State (2025–2027). He is the author of Not for Luck, selected by Mark Doty for the Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize, and Through the Second Skin, runner-up for the Emily Dickinson First Book Award and finalist for the Washington State Book Award. He is the co-editor, with Simmons Buntin and Elizabeth Dodd, of Dear America: Letters of Hope, Habitat, Defiance, and Democracy and, with Elizabeth Bradfield and CMarie Fuhrman, Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry. His awards include the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, the Foreword Reviews Indies Book of the Year in Nature Writing, and the James Hearst Poetry Prize judged by Li-Young Lee. Derek lives on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains in Central Washington and is the poetry editor of Terrain.org. Learn more at dereksheffield.com.Read the poem and discover additional content in the Winter 2026 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An article written and read by Gus Seelig. Gus Seelig is the founding Executive Director of Vermont Housing & Conservation Board. He worked with Senator Leahy to implement the Farms for the Future program as a pilot project, which led to the national Farm Protection Program. As a direct result of Gus’ leadership, Vermont now has some 460,000 acres of conserved land, including over 800 conserved farms; 16,000 permanently affordable homes; conserved town forests and new state parks, and multiple additions to state forest and Wildlife Management Areas. Much of this work has been implemented by supporting a nonprofit network to achieve Vermont’s land use/community development vision of compact settlement surrounded by a working landscape.Read the full article and discover additional content in the Fall 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An article written and read by Alex Redfield. Alex Redfield is the Policy Director for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities. On the farm, in state government, and in conservation policy circles, his work for the past 20 years has centered on supporting a just transition of New England’s landscape toward an equitable future. He lives in South Portland, Maine.Read the full article and discover additional insights in the Autumn 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up, featuring Communities and Land: Working Together Toward a Shared Vision by David Foster and Conserving Land, Creating Homes: Lessons from Vermont Housing & Conservation Partnership by Gus Seeling.

An article written and read by Marissa Latshaw. Marissa Latshaw works with mission-driven organizations to build empathetic and inclusive communication strategies that inspire action. She is the publisher of From the Ground Up and co-coordinator of the Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities initiative, working with partners throughout New England to help bring a more holistic, integrated approach to land conservation. Marissa resides in Connecticut where she’s always up for a walk in the conservation area adjacent to her home.Read the full article and discover additional content in the Fall 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An opinion piece written and read by Nancy Zimny.Nancy Zimny has been a resident of Richmond, Vermont, for 43 years and is a lifelong outdoor recreationist. She is a retired UVM Professor of Physical Therapy who based her teaching on the clinical science underlying therapeutic rehabilitation techniques for humans and eventually companion animals as a certified canine rehabilitation therapist. Today, she volunteers at a farm animal sanctuary and has been closely following the discussions of the Andrews Community Forest Committee in Richmond as they discuss ways to “balance” recreation and conservation there.Editor’s Note: The author is the spouse of Ian Stokes, former co-chair and current member of Richmond’s Andrews Community Forest Committee (dealing with the recreation-conservation issues in the forest). He has had no input into or participation in this article.Read the full opinion piece and discover additional content in the Fall 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An essay written and read by Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder.Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder is the author of Mother, Creature, Kin (2025). She grew up in the Great Plains of Nebraska and Oklahoma. After receiving her Master of Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School, her writing became focused on the confluence of relationship to place with experiences of the sacred. From 2017–2022, she worked as a staff writer and editor for Emergence Magazine, an online and print publication exploring the intersection of culture, ecology, and spirituality. Her writing can also be found in The Atlantic, The Common, The Slowdown, Decor Maine, Crannóg Magazine, EcoTheo Review, From the Ground Up, CooNoor&Co, the edited poetry collection Writing the Land, and in Katie Holten’s The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape. She lives with her family in Rochester, Vermont. Substack: The Entwinement. Instagram: @chelseasteinauerscudderRead the full essay and discover additional content in the Fall 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A poem written and read by Neil Shepard.Neil Shepard is an award-winning poet who has published nine books of poetry, most recently, The Book of Failures. His previous books include How It Is: Selected Poems and Vermont Poets and Their Craft. He has published essays, book reviews, interviews, and poems in such magazines as the Harvard Review, New England Review, Paris Review, and Southern Review. He taught in the BFA writing program at Johnson State College in Vermont and in the MFA program at Wilkes University (Pennsylvania). He founded and directed for eight years the writing program at the Vermont Studio Center and edited for a quarter-century the literary magazine Green Mountains Review. Recently, he founded the online magazine Plant-Human Quarterly and serves as its editor-in-chief. These days, he splits his time between Vermont and New York City, where he teaches at Poets House.Read the full poem and discover additional content in the Fall 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A poem written and read by Catherine Menyhart.Catherine Menyhart is an intercultural educator, coach, and poet. She believes curiosity, wonder, and joy are essential elements in the learning process, whether in the classroom, in the natural world, or on the page. Catherine lives in coastal Maine with her husband and young son, and enjoys writing in community through the Casual Union of Working Poets at Poetry Forge.Read the full poem and discover additional content in the Fall 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An article written and read by Bill McKibben.Bill McKibben is a contributing writer to The New Yorker and a founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 to work on climate and racial justice. He founded the first global grassroots climate campaign, 350.org, and serves as the Schumann Distinguished Professor in Residence at Middlebury College in Vermont. In 2014 he was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the “alternative Nobel,” in the Swedish Parliament. He’s also won the Gandhi Peace Award, and honorary degrees from 19 colleges and universities. He has written over a dozen books about the environment, from his first, The End of Nature (1989) to the just-released Here Comes The Sun (2025).Read the full article and discover additional content in the Fall 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An article read and written by Jens Hawkins-Hilke.Jens Hawkins-Hilke is a Conservation Planner with the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, where he has served since 2006. He graduated from Connecticut College with a BS in Environmental Sociology and from the University of Vermont with an MS in the Field Naturalist program. Jens reviews projects with the Agency of Transportation as well as collaborating on wildlife crossing initiatives. He also provides technical assistance to municipalities and regional commissions related to land use planning for wildlife and wildlife habitat management. He enjoys hiking, kayaking on Lake Champlain, woodworking, and travel. He lives with his family in Burlington, Vermont.Read the full article and discover additional content in the Fall 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An opening piece for Issue 8, read and written by David Foster.David Foster is an ecologist, Director Emeritus of the Harvard Forest, and President Emeritus of the Highstead Foundation. He co-founded the Wildlands and Woodlands Initiative in 2005 and was lead writer of Wildlands in New England: Past, Present, and Future in 2023. David has written and edited books including Thoreau’s Country: Journey Through a Transformed Landscape; Forests in Time: The Environmental Consequences of 1,000 Years of Change in New England; Hemlock: A Forest Giant on the Edge; and A Meeting of Land and Sea: The Nature and Future of Martha’s Vineyard.Explore David Foster’s opening piece and discover additional content in the Autumn 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An article written and read by Nadine Canter.Nadine Canter is a writer, lecturer, and network builder. Her inquiries are rooted in the mysteries of presencing, unity, and holism to re-weave the Earth story. She is located in Vermont, where she serves as an advisor and mentor, a Tai Chi Chuan and Daoism student, and a Lecturer at Middlebury College. Her mission is to create and support webs of communication and resource sharing to nourish human and nonhuman mycelial networks.Read the full article and discover additional content in the Fall 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A book review written and read by David Foster. David Foster is an ecologist, Director Emeritus of the Harvard Forest, and President Emeritus of the Highstead Foundation. He co-founded the Wildlands and Woodlands Initiative in 2005 and was lead writer of Wildlands in New England: Past, Present, and Future in 2023. David has written and edited books including Thoreau’s Country: Journey Through a Transformed Landscape; Forests in Time: The Environmental Consequences of 1,000 Years of Change in New England; Hemlock: A Forest Giant on the Edge; and A Meeting of Land and Sea: The Nature and Future of Martha’s Vineyard.Read the full recommendation and discover additional content in the Summer 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A report written and read by Marissa Latshaw.Marissa Latshaw works with mission-driven organizations to build empathetic and inclusive communication strategies that inspire action. She is the publisher of From the Ground Up and co-coordinator of the Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities initiative, working with partners throughout New England to help bring a more holistic, integrated approach to land conservation. Marissa resides in Connecticut where she’s always up for a walk in the conservation area adjacent to her home.Read the full report and discover additional content in the Summer 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An interview with Naomi Heindel, Sean Beckett, and Bill Sincavage, conducted and edited by Liz Thompson.Liz Thompson, Managing Editor of From the Ground Up, is an ecologist from Vermont who has explored, photographed, written about, and helped conserve many wild places. She serves on the board of Northeast Wilderness Trust and is coordinating the 2025 Northeastern Old Growth Conference.Naomi Heindel is Executive Director of North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier, Vermont. She taught at Teton Science Schools in Wyoming for several years. Sean Beckett is Program Director at North Branch Nature Center, born and raised in Vermont. He worked as a wildlife guide for several years with Teton Science Schools.Bill Sincavage is a professional wildlife photographer living in Dubois, Wyoming, about 100 miles southeast of Yellowstone National Park.Read the edited transcript and discover additional content in the Summer 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An article written and read by Alex Redfield.Alex Redfield is the Policy Director for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities. On the farm, in state government, and in conservation policy circles, his work for the past 20 years has centered on supporting a just transition of New England’s landscape towards an equitable future. He lives in South Portland, Maine.Read the full piece and discover additional content in the Summer 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An essay written and read by Nohham Cachat-Schilling.Nohham Cachat-Schilling is Medicine Elder, Bridge in the Sky Medicine Circle; Chair of the Massachusetts Ethical Archaeology Society; and a Researcher at the Oso:ah Foundation. They are also a contributing author in Our Hidden Landscapes: Indigenous Stone Ceremonial Sites in Eastern North America, part of the Native Peoples of the Americas series from the University of Arizona Press (Dr. Lucianne Lavin and Elaine Thomas, editors). They live in the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts.Read the full essay and discover additional content in the Summer 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An article written and read by Alex Redfield and Marissa Latshaw.Alex Redfield is the Policy Director for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities. On the farm, in state government, and in conservation policy circles, his work for the past 20 years has centered on supporting a just transition of New England’s landscape toward an equitable future. He lives in South Portland, Maine.Marissa Latshaw works with mission-driven organizations to build empathetic and inclusive communication strategies that inspire action. She is the Publisher of From the Ground Up and Co-coordinator of the Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities initiative, working with partners throughout New England to help bring a more holistic, integrated approach to land conservation. Marissa lives in Connecticut with her family.Read the full profiles and discover additional content in the Summer 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An poem written and read by Scudder Parker.Scudder Parker’s first volume of poetry, Safe as Lightning, released in June 2020 by Rootstock Publishing, was awarded the Best Poetry Book of 2020 by the Independent Publishers of New England (IPNE). Scudder’s poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals including Sun Magazine, Crosswinds, The Lascaux Review, Sky Island Journal, Vermont Life, Northern Woodlands, and Twyckenham. His poem The Poem of the World was selected as a finalist in the Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest.For Scudder, poetry is the search for truthfulness, not homage to conclusion. It is exploration—fit of bone in socket, bees at riot in oregano blossoms, ache of old injustice summoning an opened heart, the strange joy of longing, laughter at long-defended foolishness. Family, farming, failing, finding. Foraging for the innocent sacred, patient in our midst. Scudder’s had numerous careers—preacher, organizer, gardener, politician, energy consultant, poet—and is still learning from each of them. His new volume, The Poem of the World, published by Kelsay Books, is now available in bookstores and online. You can follow Scudder’s work at Substack.Read the poem and accompanying photographs and discover additional content in the Summer 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An interview with Stacy Brenner and Ellen Sabina, conducted and edited by Alex Redfield.Stacy Brenner is President & CEO of Maine Farmland Trust (MFT). Before stepping into the role in December 2024, Stacy had been engaged with MFT for 20 years, as a farmer leveraging Maine FarmLink and MFT’s Farm Business Planning programs, as a Board member, and on staff as Senior Advisor for Farmland Access. Stacy serves in the Maine Legislature as the State Senator from District 30, representing Gorham and parts of Scarborough. Stacy lives and farms at Broadturn Farm in Scarborough with her husband, John Bliss, and two daughters, Emma and Flora. Ellen Sabina brings her passion for rural communities, farming and food, and narrative change to her work at MFT and has worked to champion local food and farmers for over 15 years. Ellen moved back to her home state of Maine in 2013 to lead MFT’s outreach and communications work, and in 2022 shifted into a new role to work across programs that foster engagement among farmers in MFT’s network, cultivating a culture that supports farmers and farming. Ellen is also currently Board President of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. She lives in Morrill, Maine, and can often be found in the fields at the tiny flower farm she co-operates, Half Hitch Flowers.Alex Redfield is the Policy Director for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities. On the farm, in state government, and in conservation policy circles, his work for the past 20 years has centered on supporting a just transition of New England’s landscape and food system toward an equitable future. He lives in South Portland, Maine.Read the edited transcript and discover additional content in the Summer 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An article written by Brian Donahue and Alex Redfield.Brian Donahue is Professor Emeritus of American Environmental Studies at Brandeis University, and a farm and forest policy consultant. He sits on the boards of the Massachusetts Woodland Institute, the Friends of Spannocchia, and Franklin Land Trust. Brian is author of Reclaiming the Commons: Community Farms and Forests in a New England Town (1999); The Great Meadow: Farmers and the Land in Colonial Concord (2004) and Slow Wood: Greener Building from Local Forests (2024). He is co-author of Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities (2017) and A New England Food Vision (2014).Alex Redfield is the Policy Director for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities. On the farm, in state government, and in conservation policy circles, his work for the past 20 years has centered on supporting a just transition of New England’s landscape toward an equitable future. He lives in South Portland, Maine.Read the full article and discover additional content in the Summer 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A Welcome Letter, read by Liz Thompson. Issue 7 goes live on June 10, 2025. The Editors of From the Ground Up: Brian Donahue, David Foster, Marissa Latshaw (Publisher), Alex Redfield, and Liz Thompson (Managing Editor)Read the Welcome Letter and discover additional content in the Summer 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A poem written and read by Robert Perschel.Robert (Bob) Perschel joined the New England Forestry Foundation in April 2012 and retired just this past year, in 2024, though he remains actively involved. In his 40 years as an environmental professional, he has worked on forestry, large landscape conservation, and wilderness issues. Bob worked for the forest industry before establishing his own forestry consulting business and founding the Land Ethic Institute. He then worked in leadership positions for The Wilderness Society and Forest Stewards Guild. Bob has a master’s degree in forestry from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a psychology degree from Yale College.See the full poem and accompanying photograph and find additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A poem written and read by Sean Prentiss.Sean Prentiss is the author of Finding Abbey: The Search for Edward Abbey and His Hidden Desert Grave, which won the National Outdoor Book Award, Crosscut: Poems, and Majella: Poems from a Mountain Home. He co-wrote two textbooks, Environmental and Nature Writing and Advanced Creative Nonfiction, and he is the co-editor of The Science of Story: The Brain Behind Creative Nonfiction. He is a professor at Norwich University. He and his family live on a small lake in northern Vermont.See the full poem and accompanying photographs and find additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A report written and read by Marissa Latshaw.Marissa Latshaw works with mission-driven organizations to build empathetic and inclusive communication strategies that inspire action. She serves as publisher of From the Ground Up and co-coordinator of the Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities initiative, working with partners throughout New England to help bring a more holistic, integrated approach to land conservation. Marissa resides in Connecticut where she’s always up for a walk in nature on her own or with her family.Read the full piece and discover additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An essay written and read by David Foster.David Foster is an ecologist, Director Emeritus of the Harvard Forest, and President Emeritus of the Highstead Foundation. He co-founded the Wildlands and Woodlands Initiative in 2005 and was lead writer of Wildlands in New England: Past, Present, and Future in 2023.Read the full piece and discover additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A reader response from John Glowa. Read by David Foster.John Glowa has a BS in economics and an MS in public administration. He worked for 30 years as an environmental specialist for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. In 1994 he co-founded the Maine Wolf Coalition to support wolf recovery in Maine through research, education, and protection. He ran for the Maine legislature in 2016 and 2018 and for governor in 2022, and has championed the cause of allowing wolves to migrate into the United States. Read the full piece and discover additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.--You can read the three parts of our series discussing the presence (and absence) of wolves in the Winter 2025 issue:Wolves are Expanding in Agricultural Denmark, Why Not New England by David FosterA Wolf at the Door by Walter MedwidThe Wolves are Here by Brian Donahue

Reflections on the future of forest conservation, written and read by Jamey Fidel.Jamey Fidel is Forest and Wildlife Program Director and General Counsel with Vermont Natural Resources Council. Jamey has a BS in environmental studies with a minor in wildlife biology from University of Vermont’s School of Natural Resources, and a JD and Master of Environmental Law degree from Vermont Law School. He and his wife, Rachel, live in Waitsfield.Read the full piece and discover additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A look at land-use, conservation, and related policy developments around New England, compiled and read by Alex Redfield. Alex Redfield is the Co-Director of the Integrated Policy Program for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities and Food Solutions New England. He lives in South Portland, Maine and welcomes feedback and your perspective on relevant policy discussions. He can be reached on LinkedIn and via email at [email protected]. Read the full piece with accompanying figures and explore additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An essay written and read by David Marvin.David Marvin is a sugarmaker and forester. He is founder of Butternut Mountain Farm, a family enterprise focused on production, processing, and marketing maple products from its own farm and hundreds of others. David currently serves as a board member of Shelburne Farms, Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, and the Vermont Economic Development Authority. David and his wife, Lucy, reside in Hyde Park nearby to their two grown children, Emma and Ira, who are engaged in the family business.Read the full essay and discover additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An essay written and read by Carolyn Ziegra.Carolyn Ziegra is a Forest Manager with the Appalachian Mountain Club and joined the organization in 2022. She is a graduate of the School of Forest Resources at the University of Maine, where she contributed to research related to late-successional forest species in Maine’s Acadian forest type. Carolyn both oversees daily operations on the Maine Woods Initiative property and is responsible for the long-term planning for the property in northern Maine. She was born and raised along the coast of Maine and now calls Piscataquis County home.--This piece is part of our series exploring ecological forestry featured in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.Read all the submissions in our Ecological Forestry collection:Ecological Forestry and Slow Wood: Perspectives from Around the Region by Brian DonahueEcological Forestry: Origins and Principles by Tony D’AmatoPutting Forests First: Ecological Forestry and an Ethical Worldview by David FosterRelationships: The Essence of Low Impact Forestry by Sam F. BrownThe Practice of Ecological Forestry: Seeking Diversity, Balance, and Adaptation in the Woods by Rick MorrillWorst-First and Femelschlag: Ecological Forestry with the Foundation for Sustainable Forests by Guy Dunkle and Annie Socci MaloneyThe Maine Woods Initiative: The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Approach to Ecological Forestry by Carolyn ZiegraManaging for Diversity: Insurance for the Future Forest by Ben FarinaExemplary Forestry: Integrating Climate Resilience, Biodiversity, and Wood Production by Robert T. Perschel

An essay written and read by Robert Perschel.Robert (Bob) Perschel joined the New England Forestry Foundation in April 2012 and retired just this past year, in 2024, though he remains actively involved. In his 40 years as an environmental professional, he has worked on forestry, large landscape conservation, and wilderness issues. Bob worked for the forest industry before establishing his own forestry consulting business and founding the Land Ethic Institute. He then worked in leadership positions for The Wilderness Society and Forest Stewards Guild. Bob has a master’s degree in forestry from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a psychology degree from Yale College.--This piece is part of our series exploring ecological forestry featured in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.Read all the submissions in our Ecological Forestry collection:Ecological Forestry and Slow Wood: Perspectives from Around the Region by Brian DonahueEcological Forestry: Origins and Principles by Tony D’AmatoPutting Forests First: Ecological Forestry and an Ethical Worldview by David FosterRelationships: The Essence of Low Impact Forestry by Sam F. BrownThe Practice of Ecological Forestry: Seeking Diversity, Balance, and Adaptation in the Woods by Rick MorrillWorst-First and Femelschlag: Ecological Forestry with the Foundation for Sustainable Forests by Guy Dunkle and Annie Socci MaloneyThe Maine Woods Initiative: The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Approach to Ecological Forestry by Carolyn ZiegraManaging for Diversity: Insurance for the Future Forest by Ben FarinaExemplary Forestry: Integrating Climate Resilience, Biodiversity, and Wood Production by Robert T. Perschel

An essay by Guy Dunkle and Annie Socci Maloney. Read by Guy Dunkle. Guy Dunkle has spent the last 20 years practicing conservation-minded forestry in the same region of western Pennsylvania where he grew up. Guy partners with industrial, NGO, and public and private forest landowners to create vibrant, uneven-aged forests using a unique silvicultural system of low-intensity, high-frequency thinnings, group selection openings, and horse logging.Annie Socci Maloney joined the Foundation for Sustainable Forests team in 2016. Annie holds a PhD in forest ecology from Boston University and a BS in natural resources from Cornell University. She spent 15 years in wilderness education and leadership development with the Voyageur Outward Bound School in northern Minnesota. Annie and her family live on a farm in northwestern Pennsylvania, where they raise sheep and make maple syrup.--This piece is part of our series exploring ecological forestry featured in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.Read all the submissions in our Ecological Forestry collection:Ecological Forestry and Slow Wood: Perspectives from Around the Region by Brian DonahueEcological Forestry: Origins and Principles by Tony D’AmatoPutting Forests First: Ecological Forestry and an Ethical Worldview by David FosterRelationships: The Essence of Low Impact Forestry by Sam F. BrownThe Practice of Ecological Forestry: Seeking Diversity, Balance, and Adaptation in the Woods by Rick MorrillWorst-First and Femelschlag: Ecological Forestry with the Foundation for Sustainable Forests by Guy Dunkle and Annie Socci MaloneyThe Maine Woods Initiative: The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Approach to Ecological Forestry by Carolyn ZiegraManaging for Diversity: Insurance for the Future Forest by Ben FarinaExemplary Forestry: Integrating Climate Resilience, Biodiversity, and Wood Production by Robert T. Perschel

An essay by Rick Morrill. Read by David Foster.Rick Morrill works as a consulting forester in Northern Vermont, together with his wife, an ecologist, and father-in-law, a practicing forester with over 50 years in the woods. Rick holds a Master of Forestry degree from the University of Maine and previously served as the Baxter State Park Resource Manager. He is a licensed forester in Maine and Vermont and a member of the Society of American Foresters and Forest Stewards Guild.--This piece is part of our series exploring ecological forestry featured in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.Read all the submissions in our Ecological Forestry collection:Ecological Forestry and Slow Wood: Perspectives from Around the Region by Brian DonahueEcological Forestry: Origins and Principles by Tony D’AmatoPutting Forests First: Ecological Forestry and an Ethical Worldview by David FosterRelationships: The Essence of Low Impact Forestry by Sam F. BrownThe Practice of Ecological Forestry: Seeking Diversity, Balance, and Adaptation in the Woods by Rick MorrillWorst-First and Femelschlag: Ecological Forestry with the Foundation for Sustainable Forests by Guy Dunkle and Annie Socci MaloneyThe Maine Woods Initiative: The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Approach to Ecological Forestry by Carolyn ZiegraManaging for Diversity: Insurance for the Future Forest by Ben FarinaExemplary Forestry: Integrating Climate Resilience, Biodiversity, and Wood Production by Robert T. Perschel

An essay written and read by Sam Brown. Sam Brown came to Maine in 1972 as a back-to-the-lander whose interest in logging eventually led to a Maine forester’s license and a deep concern about how all the pieces of a rural community fit together. He currently serves on the Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District board, and, when the weather is nice, still logs on family land in Parkman and Cambridge.--This piece is part of our series exploring ecological forestry featured in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.Read all the submissions in our Ecological Forestry collection:Ecological Forestry and Slow Wood: Perspectives from Around the Region by Brian DonahueEcological Forestry: Origins and Principles by Tony D’AmatoPutting Forests First: Ecological Forestry and an Ethical Worldview by David FosterRelationships: The Essence of Low Impact Forestry by Sam F. BrownThe Practice of Ecological Forestry: Seeking Diversity, Balance, and Adaptation in the Woods by Rick MorrillWorst-First and Femelschlag: Ecological Forestry with the Foundation for Sustainable Forests by Guy Dunkle and Annie Socci MaloneyThe Maine Woods Initiative: The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Approach to Ecological Forestry by Carolyn ZiegraManaging for Diversity: Insurance for the Future Forest by Ben FarinaExemplary Forestry: Integrating Climate Resilience, Biodiversity, and Wood Production by Robert T. Perschel

An essay written and read by David Foster.David Foster is an ecologist, Director Emeritus of the Harvard Forest, and President Emeritus of the Highstead Foundation. He co-founded the Wildlands and Woodlands Initiative in 2005 and was lead writer of Wildlands in New England: Past, Present, and Future in 2023.--This piece is part of our series exploring ecological forestry featured in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.Read all the submissions in our Ecological Forestry collection:Ecological Forestry and Slow Wood: Perspectives from Around the Region by Brian DonahueEcological Forestry: Origins and Principles by Tony D’AmatoPutting Forests First: Ecological Forestry and an Ethical Worldview by David FosterRelationships: The Essence of Low Impact Forestry by Sam F. BrownThe Practice of Ecological Forestry: Seeking Diversity, Balance, and Adaptation in the Woods by Rick MorrillWorst-First and Femelschlag: Ecological Forestry with the Foundation for Sustainable Forests by Guy Dunkle and Annie Socci MaloneyThe Maine Woods Initiative: The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Approach to Ecological Forestry by Carolyn ZiegraManaging for Diversity: Insurance for the Future Forest by Ben FarinaExemplary Forestry: Integrating Climate Resilience, Biodiversity, and Wood Production by Robert T. Perschel