Forests and Praries-can they ever return to their primeval condition of health?

In 1854, Henry David Thoreau wrote: "IS NOT THE MUSKRAT THE HEAVIEST ANIMAL FOUND WILD IN THE TOWNSHIP?"

Nearly 160 years later, Thoreau's New England now has Bear, Coyote, bobcats, Lynx(Maine only). Moose, Deer, Fisher and Pine Marten.  Hard to believe that in Thoreau's time, deer had not been seen in Central Massachusetts since the 1770's!

By the mid 19th Century, a good 75% of New England was farmers fields with just the remote mountain tops still in a wooded state. For all of us who drive through New England and see what seems now to be endless woodlands, it is hard to imagine the agrarian look that the landscape had taken on in 1850.

With farm abandonment and an exodus to either the Cities or better farmland in the Midwest and beyond, the 40 inches of rain that normally fall on New England "replanted" the woods that we know today. They are not the same woods that the Pilgrims encountered...............no longer with oaks regenerating and chestnut and elm in abundance................instead, invasive and exotic Norway Maple, Japanese Honeysuckle and kudzu have become a dangerous factor in our forests...............blocking native trees and shrubs from regenerating...............making it harder for animals and birds to find the foodstuffs necessary for optimum breeding and sustainability.

David Foster has written numerous articles and books on the ecohistory of this region...................click here to read some of his insights on the Eastern Woodland Forest