Harvard Forest Visit

Excursion to the Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts

Saturday, April 23 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. – Windham Regional Woodlands Association will sponsor a visit to the Harvard Forest. The Harvard Forest consists of 3,750 acres owned and managed by Harvard University. Founded in 1907 as an ecological research area, forestry education was moved to Petersham in 1914, and the Harvard Forest was made a graduate school. We will have time to tour, along moderate terrain, a small part of the forest, as well as view the amazing handmade dioramas in the Fisher Museum.

The 23 dioramas show changes in the New England landscape and forests from the early 1700s by depicting the clearing of farmland, conservation practices, and management of the land. A 1936 booklet describes the construction of the models, which represent the landscape in detail. For example, the people are carefully made to scale and the trees are made of strands of copper wire to form the trunks, boughs, and tiny branches.

For a preview of this remarkable area, visit http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/

Details: The forest is a one-hour drive from Brattleboro. Meet at the Exit 1 Outlet Center in Brattleboro at 8:45 a.m. for carpooling, or meet the group at Harvard Forest at 10:00 am (see directions below). We will view a video and the dioramas, have an indoor picnic lunch (BRING YOUR OWN), and tour the forest, and return to Brattleboro by about 3:30 p.m..

Directions: Take Interstate 91 to Greenfield MA and travel east on Route 2 approximately 25 miles to Exit 17. The Forest is 3 miles south (right off of exit) on Route 32. Harvard Forest is on the left.

For more information, call or email Marli Rabinowitz: 802-254-8325,

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