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.”
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.
Connecticut Travel 