Category: #GreatMountainForest

Great Mountain Forest Partners with Northwest Conservation District and UConn 4-H to bring Ethan Tapper’s “How to Love a Forest” to Norfolk

On Friday, August 14 at 4:30 p.m., Great Mountain Forest, UConn 4-H, and Northwest Conservation District will host “How to Love a Forest,” a timely and thought-provoking conversation at Norfolk United Church of Christ. This presentation features Ethan Tapper—an internationally recognized forester, best-selling author, and digital storyteller—whose work has challenged long-held assumptions about conservation and land management. Tapper is the author of How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World, which has earned wide acclaim since its publication in September 2024, including the 2025 New England Book Award for nonfiction.

This program offers the public a rare opportunity to hear from a leading voice in contemporary forestry and to engage with one of the most important questions facing conservation today: How to balance preservation and management? Participants will learn that at the center of Tapper’s approach is a clear but often uncomfortable idea: caring for a forest does not always mean leaving it untouched.

Tapper’s talk will draw from “Bear Island,” the Vermont forest he has worked to restore. Once burdened by invasive plants, exotic pests, overabundant deer, and the long shadow of poor logging practices, the land had reached a critical point. Tapper chose to intervene with management actions that may sound counterintuitive at first—bringing in loggers, using chemicals where necessary, and intentionally disrupting parts of the forest to support its long-term recovery. The result is a powerful case study in modern stewardship.

For anyone interested in forests, ecology, or the future of environmental stewardship, this is a program not to be missed. To register for this free program, visit https://greatmountainforest.org/events

This event is sponsored by Doolittle Lake Company, Haystack Book Festival, Society of American Foresters, and the Norfolk United Church of Christ Congregational (UCC).

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Free Events, Live Music, Local Flavor – Weekend in Norfolk (WIN) July 31- August 2, 2026

(WIN) celebrates its 11th year from Friday, July 31, through Sunday, August 2, with a three-day weekend of music, art, food, history, and outdoor activities. One of the weekend highlights is the expanded Sidewalk Sunday on August 2, from 12 PM to 4 PM on Station Place. With the street closed to traffic, it becomes a lively pedestrian space where visitors can shop handmade goods, meet local makers, and enjoy live music.

Garden lovers will find plenty to enjoy. Sunday’s garden tours open four exquisite private gardens, including Woodland Pathways and Feeding Body and Soul. Visitors can also explore
Norfolk’s community garden, learn composting tricks from master composter Doug Semmes, and pick up a free herb seedling, while supplies last. For treasure hunters, there is a town-wide tag sale, and for art lovers there are shows at the Art Barn and the Norfolk Library as well as an open artist studio.

Music fills the weekend, with many free performances. Friday opens with a concert on the Green and live music at Infinity Music Hall’s Bistro on all three days. Saturday features the free Emerging Artists concert at the Music Shed, and live performances on Robertson Plaza. On Sunday, enjoy another round of free concerts, plus a children’s concert and ice cream social at the Music Shed.

WIN also offers plenty of ways to get outdoors. Start Friday with a plant and bird walk at City Meadow, then choose from Saturday’s yoga on the Green or a guided gravel bike ride with the Rails to Trails Committee. On Sunday, enjoy lawn games and a bring-your-own picnic lunch at the award-winning Manor House Inn. Visitors can also explore Norfolk’s scenic trails or attend a free fly-fishing workshop at Wood Creek Pond. Families will find plenty to enjoy as well, including bubble art at the Botelle School and family-friendly activities hosted by the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department, featuring a bounce house and an obstacle course that introduces children to basic firefighting skills.

History and culture are also front and center. The Norfolk Historical Society’s exhibit brings the Revolutionary War era to life, while tours of local landmarks such as Battell Chapel and the Immaculate Conception Church show off exquisite stained-glass windows by Tiffany and others, and a tour of the Whitehouse offers a closer look at Norfolk’s rich past. At The Hub, Aton Forest is putting on an exhibit showing the history of the many conservation projects its founders undertook. And for something truly global, head to the Connecticut-Asia Cultural Center, which offers exhibits, complimentary Asian lunch boxes, Dragon Boat Racing, bonsai demonstrations, and tea ceremonies.

When it’s time to eat, Norfolk delivers. Local favorites like the Icebox Cafe, Berkshire Country Store, and Infinity Bistro are serving up delicious options and WIN specials, while food trucks and pop-up vendors add even more variety throughout the weekend. All offer take-out, and Mountain Spirit Liquor is offering its own WIN specials to go with your picnic. With most events free and everything close by, WIN makes it easy to explore at your own pace. Whether you come for the music, the art, the history, or simply the atmosphere, you’ll leave with more than a good weekend—you’ll leave with a sense of belonging. Explore the full, daily-updated schedule at Weekend in Norfolk and plan your perfect summer weekend. For more information https://weekendinnorfolk.org/

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A Century Rooted in Discovery: Aton Forest Celebrates 100 Years

In northwest Connecticut, Aton Forest has spent the past century doing something remarkable: listening to the land. Now, that legacy takes center stage in “A Centennial Celebration,” a retrospective exhibition at the Norfolk Hub, on view through July honoring 100 years of conservation, ecological research, and habitat preservation at Norfolk’s Aton Forest.

The exhibition opens with a reception on July 10 at 4:30 p.m., featuring remarks by Aton Forest President Billy Gridley, who will reflect on what defines the eco-system field station Aton Forest today and what its future holds with the recent acquisition of the Spaulding Pond Preserve (965 acres in South Norfolk) assembled by Dr. Eglar’s wife, Happy Kitchel, aa a forever wild area, whose amended conservation restriction will be held by the Norfolk Land Trust. “Dr. Egler and the Kitchels believed that protecting natural areas was essential to scientific discovery,” Gridley says. “We are proud to carry on this legacy by studying ecosystems as interconnected wholes rather than collections of plants and animals.”

“Aton Forest: A Centennial Celebration” is more than a historical retrospective—it offers an immersive view of Aton Forest as both a protected landscape and a living laboratory. Over the decades, the forest has been shaped by observation and curiosity, values that continue to inspire discovery today. The exhibition highlights a compelling mix of ongoing and historic research, from the Lingering Ash Study, which examines resilience in the face of invasive pests, to the forest’s herbarium collection, which preserves plant history in remarkable detail. It also features and an exemplary vegetation research plot on the rare tapering fern, and entomologist and Aton Research Fellow Charley Eiseman’s work on leaf miners, revealing the hidden worlds thriving within the forest. It also revisits Egler’s foundational ideas in vegetation science, emphasizing the importance of natural and semi-natural landscapes as places in which to consider today’s environmental challenges. Together, this exhibition tells a larger story: ecosystems are not static backdrops, but dynamic, interconnected systems that can only be fully understood over time.

At the heart of the exhibition is Dr. Frank Egler, the pioneering ecologist who founded Aton Forest and helped shape modern environmental thinking. Over his prolific career, Egler authored nearly 400 articles and five books, advancing a holistic understanding of ecosystems that was far ahead of its time. He was also in active correspondence with Rachel Carson, offering insight on herbicides featured in the groundbreaking book Silent Spring, a cornerstone of the modern environmental movement.

Alongside him stood his wife, Happy Kitchel, an acclaimed photographer whose work captured the beauty and ecological significance of Connecticut’s landscapes. Together, they forged a partnership that blended science, art, and environmental stewardship, viewing the land as a living, breathing laboratory.

Complementing the exhibition is a series of special events and lectures that bring its themes to life through discussion and exploration. These include “Nature & Brain Health: Minding the Gaps,” presented by Dr. Susan Masino of Trinity College on July 12 at 4 p.m. at UCC Battell Chapel, as well as the Aton Forest Science Lecture II & Walk, featuring “Mason Hale’s Aton Forest Lichen Collection: 70 Years Later Report” at The Norfolk Hub, led by Dr. James Lendemer of the New York State Museum. The exhibition also marks the launch of a new book, The Spirit of Aton Forest: Frank Egler, Rebel Ecologist, in Pursuit of Science and Natural Area Protection by Billy Gridley. The book offers a compelling account of Egler’s life, his scientific work, and his lasting influence on conservation and natural area protection.

Aton Forest’s Centennial Celebration is more than a look back—it is a call to engage with the future of conservation and regional scientific research. As climate change reshapes ecosystems worldwide, Aton Forest stands as a model for thoughtful stewardship, rigorous science, and deep respect for the natural world. For visitors, the exhibition offers something rare: an opportunity to step into a century-long conversation between scientists, landscapes, and the evolving science of life on Earth.

About Aton Forest
Aton Forest is dedicated to protecting and stewarding its natural area preserves while advancing the forest succession, ecological research, and demonstration work pioneered by its founder, Dr. Frank Egler. Through this mission, Aton Forest honors Dr. Egler’s practical and intellectual legacy and applies it to support both the natural environment and the human communities within the bioregion.

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Great Mountain Forest Hosts First Annual Nature Writing Retreat August 7-9 in Falls Village, CT

Great Mountain Forest (GMF) will host writers at its historic 6,200-acre woodland for a retreat centered on craft, reflection, and connection to nature.

The event features six nationally recognized authors. Interest is high, and spots are filling quickly. Registration is intentionally limited to encourage strong engagement between participants and instructors. Interest is high and slots are filling quickly.

Held at Yale Camp in Falls Village, Connecticut, the First Annual Nature Writing Retreat is open to writers of all experience levels. Activities will include campfire conversations, guided nature walks, and workshop panels discussing ecological literacy, journaling techniques, and the evocative and ephemeral in nature writing. Attendees may also submit work created during the retreat for a post-event online anthology.

Inspired by the legacy of Hal Borland, the American author, outdoorsman, and longtime New York Times nature columnist, the retreat is designed to help writers sharpen their perception, strengthen their voice, and write with greater clarity, authority, and imagination. Borland believed that writing about nature is a way of learning how to live more fully within it.

According to GMF Executive Director Michael Zafros, the retreat reflects a broader vision for the role forests can play in public life: “There are few uses of a forest more sustainable than serving as inspiration. This new program demonstrates how Great Mountain Forest can be an antidote to the challenges facing our world. The retreat brings people together, builds community in the forest, gets participants outside and off their screens, and uses nature sustainably to heal and inspire minds and souls.”

Curated by Tom Shachtman and supported in part by H. Bruce McEver, Roshy and Dalton Dwyer, and Housatonic Heritage, the Nature Writing Retreat is the first of what GMF hopes will become a signature annual program celebrating the connection between people, forests, and the written word.

Event Details

Dates: August 7–9, 2026

Location: Yale Camp, 177 Canaan Mountain Road, Falls Village, CT

Registration Fees: $435 (General), $335 (Students)

Optional Lodging: $70 (two nights)

Registration Deadline: July 24, 2026

For full details or to register, visit For full details or to register, visit greatmountainforest.org/writing-retreat-2026

About Great Mountain Forest
Great Mountain Forest is a nonprofit leader in sustainable forest stewardship, encompassing more than 6,000 acres in Norfolk and Falls Village, Connecticut. Through education, research, and hands-on management, GMF demonstrates how forests can support biodiversity, strengthen communities, and provide lasting environmental and human benefits.

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Great Mountain Forest (GMF) Joins Forces with Leading Advocate For Local Wood Use at Upcoming Haystack Book Festival

Great Mountain Forest (GMF) will spotlight the power of New England’s forests to provide climate-smart solutions at this year’s Haystack Book Festival. GMF Executive Director Mike Zarfos and acclaimed author Brian Donahue will lead a dynamic program on Sunday, October 5, exploring the ways New England’s forests can provide climate-smart solutions to today’s housing and environmental challenges.

The day begins with an 8:00 AM guided forest walk at GMF, followed by an 11:00 AM conversation, “Building Local, Building Green.” Together, Zarfos and Donahue will examine the environmental costs of conventional homebuilding, share strategies for resilient communities, and highlight Donahue’s firsthand experience constructing a timber-frame home with wood harvested from local forests.

Donahue, author of Slow Wood: Green Building from Local Forests, is one of NE’s foremost advocates for sustainable wood use. He argues that the region could meet all its wood needs by managing roughly half its land under ecological forestry. “Ecological forestry alone won’t save the world,” Donahue writes in the newsletter, From the Ground Up, “but it can slow the damage—one woodlot and one wood-framed house at a time.”

Old Man McMullen Pond, Great Mountain Forest, Norfolk, CT photo credit Tom Blagden

Zarfos, a conservation biologist, calls Donahue’s work “a blueprint for meeting housing needs while stewarding forests.” He adds: “Together we’re pushing for a future where New England relies only on its own wood—harvested in ways that fight climate change, protect biodiversity, and strengthen communities. It’s a vision we are excited to share.” This unique collaboration promises a thought-provoking and inspiring program that bridges ecology, housing, and the future of New England’s forests.

Event Details:

Date: Sunday, October 5, 2025

Time: 8:00 AM Forest Walk | 11:00 AM

Location: Great Mountain Forest, 200 Canaan Mountain Road, Falls Village, CT

Register here: https://www.haystackbookfestival.org/register (tickets are free)

The Haystack Book Festival runs October 3–5, bringing together leading writers, thinkers, and readers to explore ideas that shape our world. Learn more at haystackbookfestival.org

About Great Mountain Forest
Great Mountain Forest (GMF) is a leader in forest stewardship, one of the largest research, education, and recreation forests in southern New England. For more than a century, we have demonstrated how sustainable management can protect biodiversity and support ecosystems. By serving as a hub for education and research, we spread the benefits of sustainable management so that communities across New England derive educational, economic, and recreational and health benefits from their forests—now and well into the future. GMF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit encompassing 6,300 acres of contiguous forestland in Norfolk, Canaan, and Falls Village, Connecticut – a true jewel in the heart of NW Connecticut.

Brian Donahue, Professor Emeritus at Brandeis, is the author of Slow Wood and other works on farming and forestry, and serves on several conservation boards, including the Massachusetts Woodland Institute

Mike Zarfos holds degrees from Colby College, Syracuse University, and a PhD in Conservation Biology from SUNY ESF, where he studied how acid rain, climate change, and invasive species affect hardwood forests.

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