Cold Hollow to Canada Annual Gathering, 2024: Beyond the illusion of Preservation
You are invited to our 11th Annual Gathering!
Thursday, October 10th at the Montgomery Town Hall
Doors open at 6PM, dinner at 6:30PM
Suggested donation $25 per person
We are thrilled to have as our guest speaker this year Dr. Caitlin Littlefield, Senior Scientist at Conservation Science Partners. Caitlin works at the intersection of forest ecology, conservation biology, and climate adaptation science. Dr. Littlefield is also one of the principal authors of Beyond the Illusion of Preservation. This important publication offers policy recommendations for the future of our forests through forest protection, lowering consumption and expanding ecological forestry. Caitlin will share this work with all of us in an engaging presentation that shows us what we can do in our own woods and through our own decisions to make an impact, now through the year 2060. This conversation will also show what our partners can do to make this vision a reality.
As you all know we work every year to bring speakers to our annual fall gatherings that are at the forefront of thought and action for meeting the challenges facing our planet today. Our goal at CHC is to look at global concerns through a bioregional lens. Starting from the CHC bioregion we call home within our seven-towns to The Northern Appalachian-Acadian-Wabanaki Region, which constitutes the most intact temperate, broad-leaved forest in the world.
This will be our 11 th Annual Gathering. After our first five years of early growth and support we had our first annual gathering in 2014 to thank everyone who has helped us on our way. We are now 16 years old and stronger than ever. Our speakers have included prominent Vermonters that work on the national and international stage for the future health of our planet. Please check the archive of our fall issues of past newsletters for descriptions of those events.
Included here is the Abstract for Beyond the Illusion of Preservation, and please follow the link above to read the entire document. Caitlin will be pleased to answer all of your questions to the best of her very accomplished ability.
“In a world of rapid climate change, accelerating biodiversity loss, and glaring inequalities in human well-being, the question of how to manage our forests, right here in New England, has grown more urgent than ever. Rightly so, we look to our forests as a “natural climate solution” and as inextricably linked with protecting biodiversity. At the same time, wood from our forests remains a valuable renewable resource we all rely upon. And so, while pursuing goals to preserve more wild forests we must just as steadfastly protect productive forests.
Even as New England touts a strong conservation ethic, we suffer from a considerable shortfall in production compared to our enormously high rates of consumption and our capacity for sustainable production. Moreover, despite covering 80% of the region, only a quarter of our forests are formally protected today; the rest lie vulnerable to fragmentation and development.
In Beyond the “Illusion of Preservation”, we set forth an ambitious vision for 2060 that would not only remedy these production and consumption imbalances, but would also dramatically enhance protection of our forests. This vision includes: 1) protecting at least 70% of the New England landscape in forest; 2) reducing our wood consumption while meeting critical housing needs; and 3) expanding ecological forestry. Sustainably managing 20 million acres across the region—on corporate, public, and family forests—would enable us to meet our needs as a region and propel us towards meeting urgent climate and biodiversity goals.”
To reserve your seat, please pre-register HERE. We hope to see you at the gathering!
Photo credits: Annual Gathering Sunset Postcard Photo by Jess Boone;
Caitlin Littlefield bio image from North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center