Welcome to the first issue of From the Ground Up!
In this new quarterly, we bring you a range of voices from individuals whose words, actions, and artistic expressions urge us to think in more holistic and healing ways about the complex climate-related challenges facing New England—and all who make their homes here.
We find it auspicious that our first issue releases in autumn, a time of year when people and creatures alike savor the waning daylight hours and prepare for the first frost. Savoring and preparing seem so appropriate as we think about the conservation work that lies ahead. Savoring and protecting our forests, farms, and fisheries is essential as we confront and prepare for the inevitabilities of a changing climate, with all the uncertainty that it brings.
Think of this issue as the start of a conversation. We invite you to reach out to us to share your reactions and consider contributing to future issues. We hope to continue to expand the chorus of voices needed to safeguard the health, resiliency, and vibrancy of New England’s communities, human and wild.
With gratitude,
The Editors of From the Ground Up
Brian Donahue, David Foster, Marissa Latshaw, Alex Redfield, Jamie Sayen, Liz Thompson
©Fletcher Manley. This photograph appears in Above the Notch, a landscape-formated book featuring a collection of ninety of Manley’s beautiful color photographs of life in northern New Hampshire, published in October 2023. Copies of Above the Notch may be purchased through Taproot at 101 Main Street in Lancaster. Bondcliff Books of Littleton serves as regional distributor of the book.
In this Issue
Features
The Wonder in an Acorn by Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder
An Integrated Approach to New England Conservation and Community by Brian Donahue
Conversations
Climate Change: “We’re Essentially in a Wartime Situation” A Conversation with Bill McKibben by Jamie Sayen
Earth Returns Our Love by Tom Butler
What is Northeast Algonquian Land-use Practice? by Nohham Cachat-Schilling
Emerging from Ecological Amnesia by Jon Leibowitz
Farmlands and Wildlands Only Exist with Community by Tom Kelly and Shane Rogers
On Doing Nothing by Nadine Canter and Marissa Latshaw
Demand Reduction: Cutting Waste Before Cutting Trees by Mitch Lansky
Policy Desk
New England Policy Chronicle by Alex Redfield
Protecting Biodiversity in Vermont—It’s the Law: A Conversation with Vermont State Representative Amy Sheldon, Model Public Servant by Liz Thompson
The 2023 Farm Bill by Karen Nordstrom
The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund by Andi Colnes
Conservation in Action
Eastern Old Growth Forest Conference 2023 by Liz Thompson
Forest Society and Partners Protect Shelburne Valley and Bald Cap Peak Forests
Read, Watch, Listen
Read: Wildlands in New England: Past, Present, and Future A review by Jamie Sayen
Read: Children of the Northern Forest: Wild New England’s History from Glaciers to Global Warming by Jamie Sayen A review by David Foster
Read: What is “Protected Land” Protected From? A review by David Foster of the journal article:
Do working forest easements work for conservation?
Watch: Friends of Beaver Ponds Park A video by Renee Comings
Listen: The Farm Bill Uprooted A podcast series from The Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy
Listen: Sophie Strand on Myths as Maps A podcast episode from For the Wild
Read: eel grass - Sears Island A poem by Gary Lawless
Bookshelf
Children of the Northern Forest: Wild New England’s History from Glaciers to Global Warming by Jamie Sayen
Silent Spring Revolution by Douglas Brinkley
The Piping Plover by Andrew Fersch
Toward a Philosophy of Wilderness by Glenn Parton
Writing the Land: Northeast edited by Lis McLoughlin, PhD
You Had a Job for Life: Story of a Company Town by Jamie Sayen
Bulletin Board
Reflections
Artistic expressions that reflect Nature's complexity, simplicity, and beauty
eel grass - Sears Island A poem by Gary Lawless
Thirteen Moons on the Saco A poem by Cheryl Savageau
Growing A poem by Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder