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Northern Forest Ecoregion Pine martens and loons come face-to-face with loggers and realtors in the woods of New England and the Adirondacks. Rocky Gorge, just off the Kamcamangus Highway White Mountains New Hampshire Wild Woods of the East The Sierra Club seeks clear skies, clean water, thriving rural communities, and blocks of undeveloped land vast enough to sustain all of the Northern Forest's native wildlife species. On Our Agenda Preserve the biodiversity of the Great Northern Forest by restoring and sustaining habitat for the full array of native plants and animals. Maintain sustainable economic activity, including traditional farming, tourism, and recreation, while establishing sound forestry policy for the thousands of people whose jobs depend on the Northern Forest. Restore and protect air and water quality. Start by enacting legislation to reduce the sulfur-dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions that send acid rain from industrial America to these wildlands. Preserve and protect wilderness, watersheds and their wetlands, lakes, and wild rivers. Win wild-and-scenic-river designation for such New England waterways as the Penobscot, Connecticut, Machias, and St. John. Protect large tracts of undeveloped land while sustaining the unique qualities and character of Great Northern Forest rural communities. The Land 26 million acres stretching from New York's Adirondack Mountains up through the woods of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine--the largest contiguous blocks of forest land remaining in the eastern United States. 80% is privately owned, mostly by large timber corporations; less than 20% is within the bounds of public parks and forests; only 3% of the total is owned by the federal government Population Almost 1 million permanent residents; 70 million people within a day's drive. Economy The region depends on forest products and tourism, each built on the premise of a healthy forest. But since 1989 more than 3 million acres of forest land have been sold, threatening the stability of both industries. Little-Known Fact The northern boreal and central hardwood forests intersect here, creating a varied tapestry of aspen, oak, beech, white pine, sugar maple, paper birch, and many other species. 131 Years Ago Henry David Thoreau wrote in The Maine Woods of a walk near the village of Lincoln: "It was but a step on either hand to the grim, untrodden wilderness, whose tangled labyrinth of living, fallen, and decaying trees only the deer and moose, the bear and wolf can easily penetrate." Later, on "an obscure trail" up the northern bank of the Penobscot River, "the evergreen woods had a decidedly sweet and bracing fragrance; the air was a sort of diet-drink, and we walked on buoyantly in Indian file, stretching our legs." Nature Meccas For years the Northern Forest has provided East Coast urbanites with such popular retreats as the Adirondacks, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the Green Mountains of Vermont, and Baxter State Park in Maine. One of the highest points in the region is Baxter's 5268-foot Mt. Katahdin, the northern terminus of the 2020-mile-long Appalachian Trail. Superlatives Moose, lynx, pine marten, mink, and beaver have somehow managed to coexist with a large human population. Popular Play Hiking and ski-touring; canoeing the region's 60,000 miles of lakes and rivers; fishing its cold, sparkling trout streams. Enviroclimate Hot. In some areas even mild-mannered activists have been victimized by arson or vandalism. As the late curator of the Adirondack Museum Bill Verner put it, "We are living through the creation of the Adirondack Park, and sometimes it can be agonizing." Progress Sierra Club activists have steadfastly lobbied to strengthen the Adirondack Park Agency. In 1983 they helped establish the Finger Lakes National Forest in New York. In 1984 they also won a fight to expand Green Mountain and White Mountain national forests, and in 1990 they celebrated establishment of the 12,000-acre Caribou/Speckled Wilderness in the White Mountain National Forest. The Club is a member of the Northern Forest Alliance, a coalition of 25 conservation organizations that has worked over the past three years to help guide the efforts of the Northern Forest Lands Council, which is currently developing recommendations for Congress, state legislatures, and local governments on the future of the region. "Thinking about people as an integral part of the solution expands the horizon of possibilities," says Ecoregion Task Force Chair Lowell Krassner of the Club's new holistic approach to conservation in the region. "Thinking about the warblers that migrate from the Northern Forest to South America links us to the rest of the planet." Biggest Threats New second-home colonies far outpace the ability of local communities to handle the traffic, pollution, and other urban problems they bring. Meanwhile, timber companies after short-term profit have shifted from sustainable logging to massive clearcuts, destroying habitat and damaging watersheds. Antiquated paper mills continue to release toxic chemicals into the air and rivers. Celebrators Poet Robert Frost, authors Henry David Thoreau and John McPhee, and Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, who declared, "We must multiply the Baxter Parks a thousand-fold in order to accommodate our burgeoning populations." Tells It Like It Is Edward Hoagland's Walking the Dead Diamond River (Random House, 1973) foretold many of today's harshest realities. To Learn More "The People and the Park," by Bill McKibben, Sierra, March/April 1994 Contact: Sierra Club Northeast Office ne.field@sierraclub.org Photo courtesy Philip Greenspun. Up to Top