This is our twenty-fifth anniversary magazine – that’s a generation of readers and an improbable relay chain of individuals who have devoted their time, talents, and resources to our educational mission. Northern Woodlands has inspired many people to learn about the woods (including me, as a new landowner many years ago), and fostered a community defined by its curiosity, civility, and love for the woods we all share.
We’ll be celebrating our anniversary over the course of this year. And what better way to start things off than the launch of our Resilient Forest series. Over the next four quarters, we’ll produce linked print, audio, and video works that explore relationships and traditions that have helped keep northeastern forests intact. The series will also consider how both human and natural communities are adapting to change.
Jim Collins, a former editor of Yankee and a longtime friend of the magazine, is serving as the series editor. Journalist David Dobbs has written the first article, which focuses on the Kingdom Heritage Lands (formerly the Champion Lands) of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom and the collaborative effort that led to their conservation and management for multiple uses. Accompanying that article is a link to a video by filmmaker Ben Silberfarb. Ben’s work reveals the grand scope of this conserved forestland and focuses on its environmental significance. There’s also a link to a wonderful audio segment by Erica Heilman, sharing the voices of small-scale loggers from this same region of Vermont. I’d like to offer particular thanks to three foundations that stepped in early to get this series off the ground: the Emily Landecker Foundation, the Davis Conservation Foundation, and the Larsen Fund. Thank you!
So take a look and a listen, and if you like what we’re doing, help us share this work with your own social networks. And please, will you take a few minutes to fill out the survey on page 48? As our nonprofit continues to adapt to a dynamic media environment, we are seeking greater insight into our readers’ experiences, priorities, and interests.
A quarter century after Stephen Long and Virginia Barlow set out to make a magazine, Northern Woodlands continues to introduce new audiences to the wonder and value of forests. Thanks for your part in our nonprofit’s ongoing work. And happy anniversary!