In the final week of August, in the last light of day, common nighthawks come whirling over our field and continue down into the Ompompanoosuc River floodplain. Two miles downriver, they encounter the Union Village Dam. They veer up, looping the valley for several revolutions. If you’re fortunate enough to be standing on the dam road at this moment, you can watch the birds hunt. They twist and dive, surge up again, revealing through their predatory acrobatics unseen swarms of high-flying insects.
Below the birds is another unseen presence: family farms swept away by 1930s flood control legislation. Descend the dam on its upland side, into what is now a federally managed recreation area, and you’ll find remnants of lost homes: stone walls and building foundations, yard-grown apple trees, and cement steps leading into air.
The view from the dam on an August evening – birds hunting above, former farmland lying quietly below – seems a fitting place to introduce the summer magazine. In this issue, ecologist Logan Parker describes common nighthawks and their whip-poor-will kin, and recounts his work to establish a volunteer nightjar monitoring project. This story from Maine of people coming together to help birds pairs nicely with a story by Susan Shea about volunteers in Connecticut working together to enhance pollinator habitat.
Also in this issue: an afterword to an iconic book of our region, The Northern Forest. Over the years, several readers have told me that the book was an important influence in their own thinking about forest management, conservation, and community. The questions it poses are as vital today as when authors David Dobbs and Richard Ober first asked them. How can we protect forests while also protecting local culture and livelihoods? What is our collective responsibility when the benefits and costs of land-use decisions fall disproportionately? We’re grateful to David and Dick for sharing their new writing and to Melinda Richmond for generously supporting this work.
In the afterword, there is a reference to the Northern Forest Center; on page 9, you’ll find interview excerpts from a series of short films by talented young filmmaker Asher Brown, that we produced in partnership with this organization. It’s interesting how themes that emerge from the films – focused on young adults living and working in the forests of northern New Hampshire – connect with the afterword’s profile of conservationist Sally Manikian. Again, we could not have taken on this project without special financial help, and we thank the individuals who made it possible.
Finally, a note about the past few months, and our nonprofit’s path forward: it has been difficult, getting this magazine into your hands. I won’t dwell; everyone reading this page has been impacted. I would, however, like to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of our staff and the support of our board of directors. Despite the challenges, we’ll move forward with joy, commitment to our educational mission, and caring for each other.