Reciprocity is the rekindling of humanity’s affection for the riotous, wondrous wild. At its core, reciprocity is a visceral revelation of our interdependence with all the astounding entities of this planet.
Places where people may witness a kaleidoscope of beings evolving freely are integral to cultivating the will to preserve diverse, resilient ecological communities. When other life forms are honored for their own sake, and granted the freedom to flourish, the wonder of the natural world becomes increasingly palpable. Experiencing this innate awe can transform us, and inspire the wisdom and compassion needed to protect and pass on a vigorous, beautiful world.
Northeast Wilderness Trust is dedicated to the reciprocal act of offering our wild neighbors places where they may rest, recover, and thrive. The Wilderness Trust welcomes careful, responsible experiences of reciprocity with these cherished lands and waterways.
Eagle Mountain Success
/in Featured News, New YorkWith the slap of her tail, the beaver formally welcomed us to her domain. She dipped back under the tannin-brown water, reemerged, slapped again, and zigzagged around her lodge. This river was her home, not ours; we were interlopers in her wild place.
Return to Grandeur
/in Community Conservation, Featured News, MassachusettsRight around Carver or Kingston, southbound travelers reach a transition zone—an ecotone—between the realm of Northern Hardwood Forest and the beginning of the Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens. The composition of the trees becomes heavily pine and oak. The forest floor is littered with dry needles, and scrubby shrubs make up the understory.
On Wilderness: Rethinking Climate Crisis
/in MaineThe Howland Reaserch Forest includes rare forest of hemlock, spruce, and white pine—some trees so vast and old they proved already middle-aged when Thoreau passed through on his way to Katahadin over one hundred and fifty years ago. Howland was established in 1987 as a research site, and for the last twenty years, ecologists at the U.S. Forest Service and University of Maine-Orono have been quietly churning out groundbreaking data on carbon storage and sequestration.