I had the good fortune of having Northern Woodlands in my home during my teenage years, just as I began to seek out information about the history and ecology of northeastern forests. A summer internship at Northern Woodlands’ office during college provided as much learning as a semester of college. While I moved out of New England and eventually out of the Northeast, I continued to read passed-along issues of the magazine and signed up for the online newsletter, and the material continued to resonate with my interests: the same ovenbirds and chestnut-sided warblers that breed in rural northeastern landscapes might also stop in the migrant traps of Central Park and Jamaica Bay, and any given A Place in Mind essay might make me consider my own relationship to the 27 acres of woodlands I watched over in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Later, as I commuted through central Ohio cornfields, I often thought of the farmers drawn by the deep, fertile soils of that region and how their stories connected to forest regeneration in the New England so many left behind.
During my time away, I have watched the Center for Northern Woodlands Education’s mission evolve and deepen, but many components of Northern Woodlands have remained consistent: the overall quality of the published material and its aesthetic, journalistic, and production value; a balance between timelessness and topicality; and indeed an overall balance, with a moderate, practical sensibility. Another such consistent element (and something that separates the magazine from, say, the eliding lens of the classic nature documentary) is its ability to keep human beings in its vision of the landscape. Those many human figures in the pages you flip through include Northern Woodlands’ audience and supporters, and they reflect a diversity of concerns, interests, levels of expertise, and even geographies. Yet so many find – as I have found – something pertinent or captivating in the print magazine, The Outside Story series, and online offerings. Northern Woodlands provides these opportunities to gather and to share and affirm the importance of what we hold in common or can at least take common interest in: wildlife, fungi, and plant life; phenology and tracking; nature photography and art; forestry and logging practices; crafts and woodworking; gardening and foraging; and the regional forest economy. The nonprofit’s work offers entry points for and connective lines between many people without forfeiting truth or nuance, and that is something I have long admired – and intend to help uphold.
Speaking of people and the links between them, I want to express how much I look forward to working with the CNWE staff (small and strong, like that of so many nonprofits) and its board of directors and to reconnecting with so many of you who belong to this landscape I now return to.