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