Northeast Wilderness Trust’s Lands and Easements
Some of our Preserves are under active scientific study. Some have critical habitat for endangered or threatened species. Some are crossed by footpaths, where people can find solace while hiking, watching birds, or sitting quietly to listen to a brook or watch a sunset. All of these forever-wild places are allies in the fight to slow climate change, as they sequester and store carbon at a greater rate than timberlands.
While the Northeast has experienced an incredible recovery from the logging and agricultural practices of early European settlers, we are a far cry from knowing wilderness as a common feature of this region. Wilderness Society founder Bob Marshall once spoke of “freedom of the wilderness.” It is freedom that is the defining attribute of wilderness—not the absence of people or human impact upon the land. Indeed, on most of the land Northeast Wilderness Trust protects, one can find the remnants of past human activity, from stone walls to decommissioned logging roads to mouldering settlements. But in all these places, natural succession operates freely, allowing ecosystems to heal, restore, and grow old.