Stepping Back to Look Forward

This timely collection of essays, written by recognized forestry and environmental specialists, tells the story of the conservation, use, and changes in Massachusetts' forests over time. It begins with ecology and land-use history through pre-settlement, colonial, and post-Revolutionary periods, and ends with recommendations on how history may inform policy. It documents the origin and growth of state forestry programs and underscores the importance of private and local leadership and Massachusetts' roles in the emergence of national conservation and forestry efforts. Economic contributions and educational programs are detailed. The book concludes with a call to awaken and reinvigorate the historical connection between citizens and their forests, an initiative of potential significance not only to Massachusetts but to the nation.

Charles H. W. Foster is an adjunct research associate and lecturer at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. John F. O'Keefe is the coordinator of the Harvard Forest's Fisher Museum. David R. Foster is the director of the Harvard Forest at Harvard University. Nancy M. Gordon is an independent consulting historian. William A. King is the president of the New England Forestry Foundation. William H. Rivers is the statewide management forester for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management's Bureau of Forestry. Robert S. Bond was for 20 years a faculty member in the University of Massachusetts' Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management.