A reader response from John Glowa. Read by David Foster.

John Glowa has a BS in economics and an MS in public administration. He worked for 30 years as an environmental specialist for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. In 1994 he co-founded the Maine Wolf Coalition to support wolf recovery in Maine through research, education, and protection. He ran for the Maine legislature in 2016 and 2018 and for governor in 2022, and has championed the cause of allowing wolves to migrate into the United States.

Read the full piece and discover additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

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You can read the three parts of our series discussing the presence (and absence) of wolves in the Winter 2025 issue:

• Wolves are Expanding in Agricultural Denmark, Why Not New England by David Foster
• A Wolf at the Door by Walter Medwid
• The Wolves are Here by Brian Donahue

Reflections on the future of forest conservation, written and read by Jamey Fidel.

Jamey Fidel is Forest and Wildlife Program Director and General Counsel with Vermont Natural Resources Council. Jamey has a BS in environmental studies with a minor in wildlife biology from University of Vermont’s School of Natural Resources, and a JD and Master of Environmental Law degree from Vermont Law School. He and his wife, Rachel, live in Waitsfield.

Read the full piece and discover additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A look at land-use, conservation, and related policy developments around New England, compiled and read by Alex Redfield.

Alex Redfield is the Co-Director of the Integrated Policy Program for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities and Food Solutions New England. He lives in South Portland, Maine and welcomes feedback and your perspective on relevant policy discussions. He can be reached on LinkedIn and via email at alex@wildlandsandwoodlands.org.

Read the full piece with accompanying figures and explore additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An essay written and read by David Marvin.

David Marvin is a sugarmaker and forester. He is founder of Butternut Mountain Farm, a family enterprise focused on production, processing, and marketing maple products from its own farm and hundreds of others. David currently serves as a board member of Shelburne Farms, Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, and the Vermont Economic Development Authority. David and his wife, Lucy, reside in Hyde Park nearby to their two grown children, Emma and Ira, who are engaged in the family business.

Read the full essay and discover additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An essay written and read by Robert Perschel.

Robert (Bob) Perschel joined the New England Forestry Foundation in April 2012 and retired just this past year, in 2024, though he remains actively involved. In his 40 years as an environmental professional, he has worked on forestry, large landscape conservation, and wilderness issues. Bob worked for the forest industry before establishing his own forestry consulting business and founding the Land Ethic Institute. He then worked in leadership positions for The Wilderness Society and Forest Stewards Guild. Bob has a master’s degree in forestry from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a psychology degree from Yale College.

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This piece is part of our series exploring ecological forestry featured in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

Read all the submissions in our Ecological Forestry collection:

• Ecological Forestry and Slow Wood: Perspectives from Around the Region by Brian Donahue
• Ecological Forestry: Origins and Principles by Tony D’Amato
• Putting Forests First: Ecological Forestry and an Ethical Worldview by David Foster
• Relationships: The Essence of Low Impact Forestry by Sam F. Brown

• The Practice of Ecological Forestry: Seeking Diversity, Balance, and Adaptation in the Woods by Rick Morrill
• Worst-First and Femelschlag: Ecological Forestry with the Foundation for Sustainable Forests by Guy Dunkle and Annie Socci Maloney
• The Maine Woods Initiative: The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Approach to Ecological Forestry by Carolyn Ziegra
• Managing for Diversity: Insurance for the Future Forest by Ben Farina
• Exemplary Forestry: Integrating Climate Resilience, Biodiversity, and Wood Production by Robert T. Perschel

An essay written and read by Carolyn Ziegra.

Carolyn Ziegra is a Forest Manager with the Appalachian Mountain Club and joined the organization in 2022. She is a graduate of the School of Forest Resources at the University of Maine, where she contributed to research related to late-successional forest species in Maine’s Acadian forest type. Carolyn both oversees daily operations on the Maine Woods Initiative property and is responsible for the long-term planning for the property in northern Maine. She was born and raised along the coast of Maine and now calls Piscataquis County home.

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This piece is part of our series exploring ecological forestry featured in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

Read all the submissions in our Ecological Forestry collection:

• Ecological Forestry and Slow Wood: Perspectives from Around the Region by Brian Donahue
• Ecological Forestry: Origins and Principles by Tony D’Amato
• Putting Forests First: Ecological Forestry and an Ethical Worldview by David Foster
• Relationships: The Essence of Low Impact Forestry by Sam F. Brown

• The Practice of Ecological Forestry: Seeking Diversity, Balance, and Adaptation in the Woods by Rick Morrill
• Worst-First and Femelschlag: Ecological Forestry with the Foundation for Sustainable Forests by Guy Dunkle and Annie Socci Maloney
• The Maine Woods Initiative: The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Approach to Ecological Forestry by Carolyn Ziegra
• Managing for Diversity: Insurance for the Future Forest by Ben Farina
• Exemplary Forestry: Integrating Climate Resilience, Biodiversity, and Wood Production by Robert T. Perschel

An essay by Guy Dunkle and Annie Socci Maloney. Read by Guy Dunkle.

Guy Dunkle has spent the last 20 years practicing conservation-minded forestry in the same region of western Pennsylvania where he grew up. Guy partners with industrial, NGO, and public and private forest landowners to create vibrant, uneven-aged forests using a unique silvicultural system of low-intensity, high-frequency thinnings, group selection openings, and horse logging.

Annie Socci Maloney joined the Foundation for Sustainable Forests team in 2016. Annie holds a PhD in forest ecology from Boston University and a BS in natural resources from Cornell University. She spent 15 years in wilderness education and leadership development with the Voyageur Outward Bound School in northern Minnesota. Annie and her family live on a farm in northwestern Pennsylvania, where they raise sheep and make maple syrup.

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This piece is part of our series exploring ecological forestry featured in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

Read all the submissions in our Ecological Forestry collection:

• Ecological Forestry and Slow Wood: Perspectives from Around the Region by Brian Donahue
• Ecological Forestry: Origins and Principles by Tony D’Amato
• Putting Forests First: Ecological Forestry and an Ethical Worldview by David Foster
• Relationships: The Essence of Low Impact Forestry by Sam F. Brown

• The Practice of Ecological Forestry: Seeking Diversity, Balance, and Adaptation in the Woods by Rick Morrill
• Worst-First and Femelschlag: Ecological Forestry with the Foundation for Sustainable Forests by Guy Dunkle and Annie Socci Maloney
• The Maine Woods Initiative: The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Approach to Ecological Forestry by Carolyn Ziegra
• Managing for Diversity: Insurance for the Future Forest by Ben Farina
• Exemplary Forestry: Integrating Climate Resilience, Biodiversity, and Wood Production by Robert T. Perschel

An essay by Rick Morrill. Read by David Foster.

Rick Morrill works as a consulting forester in Northern Vermont, together with his wife, an ecologist, and father-in-law, a practicing forester with over 50 years in the woods. Rick holds a Master of Forestry degree from the University of Maine and previously served as the Baxter State Park Resource Manager. He is a licensed forester in Maine and Vermont and a member of the Society of American Foresters and Forest Stewards Guild.

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This piece is part of our series exploring ecological forestry featured in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

Read all the submissions in our Ecological Forestry collection:

• Ecological Forestry and Slow Wood: Perspectives from Around the Region by Brian Donahue
• Ecological Forestry: Origins and Principles by Tony D’Amato
• Putting Forests First: Ecological Forestry and an Ethical Worldview by David Foster
• Relationships: The Essence of Low Impact Forestry by Sam F. Brown

• The Practice of Ecological Forestry: Seeking Diversity, Balance, and Adaptation in the Woods by Rick Morrill
• Worst-First and Femelschlag: Ecological Forestry with the Foundation for Sustainable Forests by Guy Dunkle and Annie Socci Maloney
• The Maine Woods Initiative: The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Approach to Ecological Forestry by Carolyn Ziegra
• Managing for Diversity: Insurance for the Future Forest by Ben Farina
• Exemplary Forestry: Integrating Climate Resilience, Biodiversity, and Wood Production by Robert T. Perschel