FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK
CHAIR Bill Tucker, Goffstown
VICE CHAIR Bill Crangle, Plymouth
SECRETARY Karen Moran, Webster
TREASURER Andrew Smith, Twin Mountain
PRESIDENT Jack Savage, Middleton
BOARD OF TRUSTEES Charlie Bridges, New Durham Deb Buxton, Greenfield Peter Fauver, North Conway Don Floyd, Concord Allyson Hicks, Concord Jason Hicks, Meredith Drew Kellner, Brookline Andy Lietz, Rye Nancy Martland, Sugar Hill Michael Morison, Peterborough Lorin Rydstrom, Hollis Tom Wagner, Campton Janet Zeller, Concord
STAFF Will Abbott, Project Manager, The Rocks Frank Allen, Building and Grounds Assistant Abraham Ames, Senior Easement Steward Dave Anderson, Senior Director of Education Anna Berry, Digital Outreach Manager Nik Berube, Maintenance Assistant Naomi Brattlof, Director of Easement Stewardship Rita Carroll, Tree Farm Administrator Tony Cheek, Finance Director Connie Colton, Land Protection and Stewardship Coordinator Andy Crowley, Stewardship Projects Manager Linda Dammann, Development Assistant Carrie Deegan, Reservation Stewardship and Engagement Director Maria Finnegan, Manager of Individual Giving Leah Hart, Land Protection Specialist Stacie Hernandez, Easement Steward Laura Holske, Finance Specialist Brian Hotz, Vice President for Land Conservation Steve Junkin, Field Forester Sarah Kern, Creek Farm Education Program Coordinator Susanne Kibler-Hacker, Senior Philanthropy Advisor Allan Krygeris, Senior Technology Specialist Sara Krzyzaniak, Data Processor Rebecca Lapitino, Policy & Reservation Stewardship Coordinator Matt Leahy, Public Policy Manager Margaret Liszka, Membership Director Nigel Manley, Director, North Country Properties Ann McCoy, Development Manager Jack Minich, Easement Steward Michelle Morse, Human Resource Director Carl Murphy, Facilities Manager Zach Pearo, Land Steward & Volunteer Coordinator Meredith Reed O’Donnell, Foundation Relations Manager Tina Ripley, Administrative Assistant Gabe Roxby, Field Forester Jack Savage, President Matt Scaccia, Recreation and Community Relations Manager Ryan Smith, Communications Manager Maria Stewart, Senior Executive Assistant Anne Truslow, Vice President for Development Brooke Vigliotta, Data Processor Wendy Weisiger, Managing Forester Harriette Yazzie-Whitcomb, Receptionist
Catalysts for Change
O
n my own modest Tree Farm, there is a cemetery where two nineteenth-century stewards of the land, husband and wife, rest in perpetuity. “Our” woods, like many of the Forest Society’s conserved lands, are marked with remnants of conscious husbandry: barbed wire, stone walls, and forest that still remembers when it was field. Each of the Forest Society’s reservations has a unique story woven with common threads. We often lead with a story of the most recent landowners, whose conservation ethic prompted them to permanently protect it through donation to the Forest Society. It was they, perhaps in concert with other generous donors, who sought to perpetuate that particular corner of forest, and we celebrate their actions. But there are many other stories woven through the history of these lands. Sometimes, as is the case with Monson Village in Milford, the archeological record is still visible to the naked eye, giving scientists and visitors some clues into the lives of early Indigenous and colonial settlers. Embedded in the history of these lands are the often ugly and uncomfortable facts of displacement, marginalization, and racism. Within these stories there is triumph as well as tragedy, and it is all part of New Hampshire’s fabric. In September, we will join forces with the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire to mark and memorialize the story of the Due family, a free Black family who owned and stewarded our Welch Family Farm and Forest in Hancock for decades prior to the Welch family. You’ll read more about the Due family in our autumn issue.
Both JerriAnne Boggis, executive director of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, and I recognize that telling the story of early American Black settlers can and should be a catalyst for larger conversations about race in our state. But not the only catalyst. Also in September, our Annual Meeting features Carolyn Finney, who will join us at Creek Farm in Portsmouth. Carolyn is the author of Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors. Creek Farm was once part of the estate of a royal governor, and later the summer home of a family of wealth and privilege. Today, the Forest Society welcomes the public to enjoy the grounds along Sagamore Creek. Does everyone feel welcome? It’s a question worth discussing, and a core component of Carolyn’s scholarship. My conversations with JerriAnne and Carolyn to date have been invigorating and enlightening. We need more such conversations, among more of us, as we seek to welcome all to our Forest Reservations and take real action on diversity, equity, and inclusion in American society. I encourage you to join the discussion.
Jack Savage is the president of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. He can be reached by email at jsavage @forestsociety.org.
