Thoreau’s country: a historical–ecological
perspective on conservation in the
New England landscape
David R. Foster* Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, MA, USA

Abstract

Our wood-lots, of course, have a history, and we may often recover it for a hundred years
back, though we do not...Yet if we attended more to the history of our lots we should
manage them more wisely. H.D. Thoreau. 16 October 1860.

Henry Thoreau, the great New England writer, thinker and naturalist, devoted his �career�
to observing, describing and interpreting (in some 2 million words in more than three
dozen journal volumes) the natural and cultural characteristics of his nineteenth century
landscape. Through these writings we not only learn a great deal about our land and its
ancestry but we receive an impassioned, although balanced reverence for both the wild and
cultural sides of nature. Thoreau also presents a means of interpreting landscapes based on
keen observation, a strong awareness of natural history, and a recognition that insights to
modern nature often lie in its past [Foster, D.R. (1999) Thoreau’s country. Journey through
a transformed landscape. Harvard University Press, Cambridge].

This paper argues that we take Thoreau’s words and approach to conservation to heart
and admonishes that we appreciate the historical processes driving long-term ecological
changes as we attempt to conserve and restore the vegetation, wildlife and landscape of
regions including New England. Over the past four centuries much of the eastern USA
has been transformed by human activity as the heavily forested area was settled, cut,
cleared and farmed through the mid-nineteenth century and then largely abandoned in
haphazard fashion from active use and allowed to reforest naturally [Cronon, W. (1983)
Changes in the land Indians, colonists and the ecology of New England. Hill and Wang,
New York; Whitney, G.G. (1994) From coastal wilderness to fruited plain. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge; Foster, D.R. & O’Keefe, J.F. (2000) New England forests
through time: insights from the Harvard forest dioramas. Harvard Forest and Harvard
University Press, Petersham and Cambridge; Hall, B. et al. (2002) Journal of Biogeog-
raphy, 29, 1319–1335]. Rather remarkably, the present landscape of New England
supports many more natural attributes and processes than at any time since before the
American Revolution. As a consequence of its history the region’s considerable variation
in vegetation, wildlife and appearance is largely explained by the history of human use
[Bellemare, J. et al. (2002) Journal of Biogeography, 29, 1401–1420; Gerhardt, F. &
Foster, D.R. (2002) Journal of Biogeography, 29, 1421–1437; Hall, B. et al. (2002)
Journal of Biogeography, 29, 1319–1335; Eberhardt, R. et al. (2003) Ecological
Applications (in press)]. Thus, although the region supports a diverse range of species,
plant and animal assemblages, and landscapes, successful conservation strategies need to
be based on a broad-scale approach that appreciates regional variation in natural and
cultural history as well as current conditions [Foster, D.R. & Motzkin, G. (1998)
Northeastern Naturalist, 5, 111; Motzkin, G. & Foster, D.R. (2002) Journal of Bio-
geography, 29, 1569–1589]. This approach must also work effectively with the general
lack of regional planning and regulation and the predominant role of private ownership
and control in New England [Berlik, M.M. et al. (2002) Journal of Biogeography, 29,
1557–1568].

*Correspondence: Harvard Forest, Petersham, MA 01366, USA. E-mail: drfoster@fas.harvard.edu

Journal of Biogeography, 29, 1537–1555

� 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd



When a geographical–historical perspective is adopted for this region, three major, and
in many ways quite dissimilar, directions for conservation emerge that are consistent with
the region’s history and environmental variation, are being actively pursued by conser-
vation organizations and agencies, and might be effectively coordinated on a broad scale
today. These directions, as articulated by diverse organizations include: (1) wilderness
preservation and the restoration and the conservation of wide-ranging species and broad-
scale ecological processes; (2) maintenance of cultural, predominantly agriculturally
derived, landscapes; and (3) increased, environmentally sound harvesting and utilization of
local forest resources. Individually, when applied in appropriate landscape contexts, each
of these approaches can exert positive benefits on biodiversity, environmental processes
and quality of life. When applied collectively in a coordinated geographical fashion that
acknowledges and accommodates regional variation resulting from physical, biological,
cultural and historical factors, these three directions in land management may provide a
broad template for proactive conservation that generates local to global benefits.

This paper examines each of these three conservation directions in relation to the
region’s history and current ecological condition, attempts to articulate the environ-
mental rationale that supports these activities, and then presents an initial approach at
positioning each across this varied region.

Keywords

Conservation, history, New England, wildlands, reserves, cultural landscape, biodiver-
sity, regional planning, sustainability, restoration, harvesting.

I N T R O D U C T I O N

Thoreau’s approach to and legacy of historical ecology

As he roamed and studied the nineteenth century countryside,
Henry David Thoreau came to recognize that much of what he
sought to explain in nature was conditioned by its history,
which oftentimes included human activity (Foster, 1999). The
woods surrounding Walden Pond and most other New Eng-
land forests of Thoreau’s day were woodlots shaped initially
by Indian activity and natural processes, and subsequently
transformed by the heavier European hand of grazing, re-
peated logging, fire and clearing (Raup, 1966; Cronon, 1983;
Hall et al., 2002). As he worked to interpret these stand and
landscape patterns, Thoreau investigated vegetation histories,
seeking to reconstruct the range of plants and animals sup-
ported on specific sites through time and to decipher the en-
vironmental, biological and historical forces that had shaped
them. His daily course of observation, enquiry and writing led
Thoreau to develop a remarkable repertoire of historical–ec-
ological skills, from dendroecology and archaeology to pa-
laeoecology and environmental history. It also gave him a
keen eye for disentangling the complex history of process be-
hind botanical form and ecological pattern (Foster, 1999).
Application of these skills over a lifetime of observation con-
vinced Thoreau that an understanding of nature’s history,
including cultural history, was essential for ecological inter-
pretation and formed a critical basis for anticipating and
managing future changes in nature.

Based on this historical perspective, and his deep knowledge
of species and habitats, Thoreau forged a series of remarkable
ecological insights and offered management and conservation
recommendations that span a much broader range of

objectives than is usually attributed to an individual often
perceived and characterized as a single-dimensioned preser-
vationist of wild nature. For while Thoreau extolled the virtue
of old-growth forests, speculated on their unique attributes,
and argued for the protection of the few extensive woodlands
remaining in his landscape, he also recognized the critical role
that farmers played in creating and maintaining the varied
meadowlands, pastures, hedgerows, and grazed woodlands
that supported the diverse plant, insect and bird fauna that he
appreciated. In a similar vein, he applied his knowledge of
woodland history and tree biology to make countless, gener-
ally unsolicited recommendations for improving forest man-
agement and harvesting techniques (Foster, 1999).

Today’s Henry David Thoreau’s place in and sense of
history have particular relevance for New England and the
eastern USA. The mid-nineteenth century spanning Thor-
eau’s lifetime (1817–62) represents a defining era and turn-
ing point for the region’s landscape (Fig. 1; Cronon, 1983;
Merchant, 1989; Whitney, 1994; Irland, 1999; Foster &
O’Keefe, 2000; Hall et al., 2002). Across the region, exclu-
ding northern Maine, this period marked the peak of in-
tensive agricultural activity and broad-scale deforestation
that has left an enduring imprint on subsequent natural
environments (Fig. 1; Russell, 1982; Foster et al., 1998,
2003; Motzkin et al., 1999b). Since Thoreau’s day agricul-
ture has shifted to the mid-western and western USA, the
rural population of New England has relocated to mill
towns, cities and then suburbs where it continues to grow at
a rapid pace, and people have stopped living from the land
and instead rely on imported goods and natural resources
(Raup, 1966; Berlik et al., 2002). Consequently, the land-
scape of hayfields, pasture, meadow, and woodlots described

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1538 D. R. Foster



in Thoreau’s journals reverted first to shrubland and then
young forest, and has gradually emerged as an expansive and
maturing forest landscape. Agricultural land is increasingly
scarce and is concentrated either in broad river valleys or
localized rural areas where it continues to be threatened by
housing and industrial development or abandonment from
active use (Hall et al., 2002). In contrast, in northern New
England the balance of human activity tipped in the opposite
direction after 1850 as the wild Maine Woods that Thoreau
visited repeatedly for its rawness and insights into natural
process became the centre of broad-scale onslaught by pri-
vate and industrial logging activity that continues to this day
(Lansky, 1992; Irland, 1999).

As a consequence of this lengthy history of human use
nearly every part of the New England landscape is shaped by
its cultural past as much as, and in most cases much more
than, its history of natural disturbance or environmental
change (Motzkin et al., 1996, 2002a,b; Fuller et al., 1998;
Bellemare et al., 2002; Gerhardt & Foster, 2002; Motzkin
et al. 2002; Parshall & Foster 2002). Each forest has a sin-
gular, although oftentimes complex history as woodlot,
pasture, or tilled field that shapes the modern vegetation in
distinct ways (Motzkin et al., 1999b). The remaining
grasslands, shrublands and heathlands in this wooded and
developed land are largely the legacy of intensive and often
environmentally abusive land use, including deforestation,
burning, cultivation or intensive grazing (Dunwiddie, 1989;
Foster & Motzkin, 1999; Motzkin & Foster, 2002). At a site
to landscape scale the modern presence and distributional

pattern of plant species is a major legacy of this history
(Foster et al., 2003). Consequently, in order to interpret
vegetation structure, composition and function, and to an-
ticipate or manage for future changes, knowledge of land use
and vegetation history must be incorporated into every
study, analysis or plan. Thoreau not only provides an
approach for conservation and management based on his-
tory, but his detailed daily journal observations on land-use
practices, vegetation and wildlife, capture essential infor-
mation for modern conservationists and ecologists as they
seek to interpret and manage the New England landscape
(Cronon, 1983; Foster, 1999) (Figs 2 & 3).

Modern conservation in New England: opportunity

and imperative

From a conservation perspective, regional history has placed
the modern New England landscape at a critical and
opportune juncture (Leahy et al., 1996; Steel, 1999; Bio-
Map, 2001). Forest area has reached a historic maximum
but is beginning to decline as a result of development; many
forests are older, wilder and more natural than any time in
the last 200 years (Irland, 1999); and native wildlife, from
bears and beaver to moose, fisher and ravens have increased
rapidly. These conditions signal the potential for preserving
and promoting extensive wildlands and restoring many
formerly extirpated species (Klyza, 2001; Sayen, 2001;
Foster et al., 2002a,c). In contrast, as agriculture continues
to decline the open-land plants and animals that thrived in
Thoreau’s day have become much less common, may be
threatened with extirpation, and are oftentimes conservation
priorities (Leahy et al., 1996; Barbour et al., 1998; Askins,
2000). Undeveloped land is increasingly threatened and
fragmented by industrial and residential activities and con-
tinues to decline rapidly, especially in southern states [Fig. 4;
Irland, 1999; The Trustees of Reservations (TTOR), 1999].
A prosperous and environmentally conscious population is
financially and emotionally supportive of conservation, and
land prices are relatively low, especially in northern and
rural areas (Allen, 1999; Bateson & Smith, 2001). However,
recent analyses suggest that current conservation activity
(e.g. of land protection and forest harvesting) forms a hap-
hazard and relatively ineffective spatial pattern because of a
lack of coordination among organizations and public agen-
cies and the absence of a coherent regional framework for
planning (Golodetz & Foster, 1996; Berlik et al., 2002; D.B.
Kittredge, unpublished data). Clearly the time is propitious
to develop New England’s conservation future.

Intriguingly, New England currently supports at least
three distinct conservation movements. On first glimpse
these may appear incongruous and incompatible, for they
include: (1) a movement to restore vast areas of wilderness,
to re-introduce large mammals and natural processes, and to
forge a broad and connected network of wildlands (Klyza,
2001); (2) efforts to maintain species, habitats and attributes
of Henry Thoreau’s cultural landscape, including assem-
blages from heathlands, grasslands, shrublands and early
successional forests (Dunwiddie & Sferra, 1991; Foster

Figure 1 Throughout much of the New England landscape original

wooded areas were converted to pasture and cultivated lands

through the mid- or late-nineteenth century when agriculture
declined, industrial activity (and population growth, dark solid line)

increased, and forests re-established through natural succession

(cf. Hall et al., 2002). This figure depicts the land cover and popu-
lation changes for a fifty-town area of central Massachusetts

(Golodetz & Foster, 1996). Patterns of intensive nineteenth century

land use continue to shape many forest characteristics and processes

and can be interpreted through retrospective and historical studies.
One insightful perspective on these activities as well as the long-term

changes in the landscape is provided by the 2-million word journal

of Henry David Thoreau, who devoted his life (1817–62) to des-

cribing and interpreting the culturally dominated countryside of
New England. Modified from Foster et al. (1998) and Foster (1999).

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Thoreau’s country: an historical–ecological perspective on conservation 1539



& Motzkin, 1998; Dunwiddie, 1999; Motzkin & Foster,
2002); and (3) a call for increased management of New
England’s forests in order to provide a greater share of the
region’s natural resources from local sources, reduce the
global impact of New England’s affluent lifestyle and
maintain species dependent on historic patterns of logging
(Berlik et al., 2002; Foster & Motzkin, 1998; DeGraaf &
Yamasaki, 2001; Donahue, 2001). On close inspection each
of these directions in conservation link closely to and are
quite compatible with the historic changes in the land itself.

In order to move towards a historically based and geo-
graphically coherent approach to conservation in New
England this paper: (1) provides a brief overview of these
three major conservation directions and their relationship to
the changes in the land; (2) offers an initial attempt at mel-
ding these disparate activities into a regional approach to
conservation based on this landscape history and variation;
and (3) identifies some of the constraints on restoration and
conservation in a cultural landscape like New England.

T H R E E D I R E C T I O N S F O R C O N S E R V A T I O N

I N N E W E N G L A N D

Wildlands and wilderness restoration

The extent and intensity of agricultural land-use activity has
declined over the past century and a half and many parts of
the New England landscape have become wilder and more
strongly dominated by natural processes (McLachlan et al.,
2000). Forest area increased dramatically through the mid-
twentieth century and, with forest growth exceeding har-
vests (a fact still true for most of the eastern USA except
northern Maine and portions of the southeast; Irland, 1999),
a vast expanse of maturing forest covers much of the land.
The countless stonewalls, ancient cart roads and woodland
paths, and abandoned railroad beds that traverse this for-
ested countryside bear testimony to the history of use and
change, but only begin to convey the enormity of the envi-
ronmental recovery that has occurred (Dunwiddie, 1989;

Figure 2 Historical changes in land use and
land cover across the eastern USA have led to

a broad-scale transformation of the extensive

agricultural landscapes of the nineteenth

century to widespread forests today, as
depicted in two views of the Swift River

Valley in Petersham, Massachusetts in the

1880s (top) and 1990s (bottom). As a con-
sequence of these changes plant and animal

assemblages characteristic of open habitats

have shown a sharp decline and are often-

times uncommon or even endangered,
whereas woodland species and forest pro-

cesses have increased. Extensive woodlands

across the region provide opportunity for the

restoration of wildlands and forest ecosystem
processes as well as increased production of

wood resources. In the autumn landscape

scene depicted here (bottom) forests domin-
ated by white pine (green) have established

extensively across old agricultural fields,

whereas areas that have been continuously in

forest through the colonial period are dom-
inated by broadleaf species including oaks,

red maple and birches. Photographs from the

Harvard Forest archives and D.R. Foster.

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1540 D. R. Foster



McKibben, 1995; DeGraaf & Miller, 1996; Hall et al.,
2002).

Pond shores and stream banks that were trampled and
eroded by livestock or gouged by log drives have stabilized
and revegetated, grassy lowland meadows shorn annually
for centuries have reverted to shrub wetlands, alder thickets
and forested floodplains, and endless rocky pastures have
gradually transformed into red maple swales or hillside
stands of white pine, paper birch, oaks and maples (Robin-
son, 1976; Dunwiddie, 1989; Foster, 1999). After a century
or more of recovery, forests with a lengthy history of intense
logging or other land use may share many structural and
compositional traits with mature or even old-growth forests
and may bear little to no visible evidence of these historical
transformations (Patterson & Foster, 1990; McLachlan
et al., 2000). In concert with the resurgence of forest habitat
and the change in human attitudes, native wildlife has

recovered, albeit unevenly and incompletely (DeGraaf &
Miller, 1996; Foster et al., 2002c). Through expansion from
small populations in nineteenth century refugia, immigration
from adjoining regions and intentional re-introductions, a
great diversity of woodland and interior mammals, birds and
other species now occur in this newly reforested landscape
(Foss, 1992; Trombulak, 2001).

This resurgence of naturalness, accompanied by popular
interest in the environment has stimulated broad-based
interest in the restoration and preservation of wildlands and
old-growth landscapes (Davis, 1996; Klyza, 2001). Indeed,
the historical recovery and current condition of the land
make the preservation of extensive wild areas or even the
development of an interconnected reserve system a reason-
able and attainable goal in many parts of the region. In
addition, low land prices in many rural areas make the pre-
servation of large forest tracts feasible for private individuals

Figure 3 Physical and land-cover characteristics of the modern New England region, including political boundaries, physiographic regions,
forest vegetation types, forest cover, agricultural land and developed land. Forest vegetation from Westveld et al. (1956) and land cover from
Vogelmann et al. (2001).

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Thoreau’s country: an historical–ecological perspective on conservation 1541



or public entities. Efforts to support this goal are diverse but
span all the New England states and involve many organi-
zations. In the south, for example, the Massachusetts Au-
dubon Society (MAS) has initiated legislation to protect
scattered old-growth forests and extensive buffer areas on
public lands. Along with regional groups like RESTORE:
The North Woods, MAS has called for a halt to most forest
harvesting in the 70,000-acre Quabbin Reservation in the
western part of the state in order to promote old-growth
characteristics across this largest tract of public land in
southern New England (R. Hubley and K. DeBoer, pers.
comm.). The private Sweetwater Trust, based in Boston,
actively supports the protection of large forest tracts as
�forever wild� throughout the region and is developing a
comprehensive map of truly �protected� (i.e. protected from
harvesting as well as development) lands in order to guide
this activity (Bateson & Smith, 2001).

Across the eastern USA there is increasing effort to iden-
tify, protect and study the remaining old-growth and virgin
forest areas (Davis, 1996; Orwig et al., 2001; Motzkin et al.,
2002). In addition, there has been a shift in focus among
mainstream conservation organizations from the simple
protecting of individual �hotspots of diversity� to the identi-
fication and protection of extensive matrix landscapes that
support natural processes (Anderson, 1999). �Wilderness
areas� (this term is used with the full understanding that
essentially all areas have been affected by human activities,
directly or indirectly) or similarly designated lands have been
created on portions of the region’s federal and state lands.

The preservationist movement’s most ambitious goal
centres on the so-called Northern Forest that stretches from
northern New York state through Vermont and New
Hampshire to northern Maine and for which there are var-
ious calls for the establishment of extensive reserves along

Figure 4 Private ownership and a lack of

stringent land-use zoning or regional plan-
ning in the eastern USA leads to the common

scene of residential or industrial development

fragmenting (top) agricultural land (note

barn and silos in upper left) and (bottom)
forests. Photographs by D.R. Foster.

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1542 D. R. Foster



with the restoration of populations of large predators, espe-
cially wolves, but including lynx, marten, and even cougar
(RESTORE, 2000; Klyza, 2001; Sayen, 2001). Among core
areas for such proposed reserves are extensive old-growth
and second-growth areas in the Adirondacks State Preserve
(NY), the Green and White Mountain National Forests (VT,
NH, ME), and Baxter State Park (ME), along with smaller
state forests and parks. Reserves, including a national park
proposed by RESTORE, might also be created from exten-
sive industrial forestlands where intensive harvesting, short-
sighted management, and recent sales of large tracts have
created great environmental, economic and public concern
(Lansky, 1992; Dobbs & Ober, 1996; Irland, 1999; Rolde,
2001). The relatively low value of much of this land for near-
term timber harvest and the high turnover in ownership
yields great opportunity for the purchase and restoration of
future old growth.

The move towards wilderness preservation and restor-
ation has been especially well received by portions of the
region’s large suburban population that has been nurtured
on the American ethic of wilderness and is currently sus-
tained by an economy based on imported natural resources
(Irland, 1999; Berlik et al., 2002). Rural populations, often
more closely connected to the land and natural resource
production exhibit a more ambivalent reaction and numer-
ous conflicting visions for this region exist. The means to
establishing extensive wildlands include federal purchase,
public and private acquisition of conservation restrictions
(deed restrictions on development or other activities) of large
contiguous blocks and modification of current management
plans for national and state lands.

Restoring and conserving New England’s cultural

landscape

Despite media attention on old-growth forests, large mam-
mals and interior forest birds that are associated with intact
forest areas and preserves, the plant and animal species that
are declining most rapidly across the north-eastern USA do
not reside in deep woods but depend on grasslands, shrub-
lands and other early successional habitats (Leahy et al.,
1996; Askins, 1993, 1997, 2000; DeGraaf & Yamasaki,
2001; Litvaitis, 2001; Motzkin & Foster, 2002). As aban-
doned pastures, hay fields and lowland meadows have be-
come wooded and as coppice scrublands and woodlots have
grown into mature forests over the past 150 years, there has
been a steady long-term decline in open-land plant and
animal species (Foster, 1999; Foster et al., 2002c). The
species involved are varied, but range from small mammals
(e.g. eastern cottontail) and reptiles and amphibians (e.g.
bog turtle, smooth green snake, leopard frog) to vascular
plants (e.g. Shrubby cinquefoil, Potentilla fruticosa). How-
ever, the most pervasive and apparent declines have occurred
in birds (e.g. bobolink, meadowlark, woodcock, whippoor-
will) and insects (e.g. regal frittilary, great spangled frittilary,
some tiger beetles and dung beetles). Species including the
Upland sandpiper, grasshopper sparrow and savanna spar-
row are now restricted to a handful of scattered locations

and highly reduced populations, and some occur on state or
even federal lists of protected, threatened or endangered
species (Jones & Vickery, 1995, 1997). As a consequence,
protection for these species and restoration of their habitats
have emerged as top priorities for conservation organiza-
tions (e.g. Leahy et al., 1996; Steel, 1999; Norment, 2002;
TNC, 2002a, b), and for state wildlife and conservation
agencies (Barbour et al., 1998).

The changing status of most of these species over the
past century is best understood as a direct consequence of
the effects of land-use and land-cover change on habitat
availability (Dunwiddie, 1989; Vickery & Dunwiddie, 1997;
Budd, 2000; Litvaitis, 2001; Foster et al., 2002c). For
example, in the late nineteenth century shrubby cinquefoil,
currently an uncommon species was widespread and abun-
dant across Massachusetts. Its aggressive and rapid spread
across wet pastures and meadows led to its historic des-
cription as a �noxious weed� and prompted farmers and
agricultural societies to share information on its control
(Motzkin et al., 2003). In related fashion, blue lupine, an
uncommon herb currently prized for its colourful appear-
ance and role in sustaining the rare Karner blue butterfly,
carpeted sandy agricultural lands such as North Haven Sand
Plain in southern Connecticut in the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries (N. Barnes, pers. comm.). Today,
the wet meadows are wooded or drained; cities, factories,
gravel pits and trees occupy the sand plains, and cinquefoil
and lupine are restricted to small populations. As we read
through Henry Thoreau’s journals the enormity of the his-
torical changes emerge; his daily jottings are filled with
descriptions of meadowlarks, bobolinks, whippoorwills and
bitterns roaming hay fields, pastures and lowland meadows,
along with the cattle and phalanxes of farmers who mowed
and maintained them (Foster, 1999).

Many techniques are currently employed to retain or
restore the open habitats that these species require and to
counteract the natural tendency of succession towards a
forested (and inhospitable) condition (Jones & Vickery,
1995; Budd, 2000). Whether acknowledging it or not these
approaches largely seek to reproduce the earlier effects of
countless farmers and their domesticated animals and to
maintain cultural elements of the historical New England
landscape (cf. Birks et al., 1988, 1996; Dunwiddie, 1989). In
its Biodiversity Initiative, the Massachusetts Division of
Fisheries and Wildlife may have the largest such programme
in New England for it employs timber cutting, brush cutting
with an immense tracked vehicle (the �Brontosaurus�), and
mowing to create and expand complexes of grassland,
shrubland and thickets (J. Scanlon, pers. comm.).

A similarly ambitious programme of mechanical treatment
is underway on the Nantucket moors by MAS in conjunction
with the Nantucket Conservation Society (E. Steinauer, pers.
comm.). The moors, like many coastal heathlands and
grasslands world-wide, are the product of forest clearance,
soil disturbance and intensive sheep grazing (Gimingham,
1972; Dunwiddie, 1989; Tiffney, 1992; Foster et al.,
2002b). With elimination of the sheep, which once excee-
ded 15,000 animals on the island, the moors have grown

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Thoreau’s country: an historical–ecological perspective on conservation 1543



increasingly rank as shrubs, scrub oak and pitch pine have
expanded prodigiously (Dunwiddie, 1989). Attempting to
reverse the deterioration of open-land habitat, the conser-
vation groups are mowing many hundreds of acres, produ-
cing patches of young growth dominated by actively
sprouting herbs and shrubs. Controlled burning has been
employed on adjacent areas. Meanwhile, a proposal to es-
tablish a small sheep flock is based on the notion that grazing
is historically consistent and is the management treatment
that is most likely to produce a diverse and heterogeneous
grassland and heathland habitat (W. Tiffney, E. Steinauer,
pers. comm.).

Fire is increasingly employed in the maintenance of open,
cultural landscapes, motivated in large part by historical
documents (including Thoreau’s journals; Foster, 1999)
which indicate that brush burning as well as accidental fires
were common during the Colonial period (Cronon, 1983;
Patterson & Backman, 1988; Whitney, 1994). The fire crew
of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) burns historically
mowed, grazed and burned areas in an attempt to restrict
woody growth and promote openlands (TNC, 2002a,b). A
hallmark project is Katama Plains on Martha’s Vineyard, a
series of historically plowed and mowed fields that support a
high diversity of herbs and grassland birds and insects.
Elsewhere on New England’s coastal landscapes TNC crews
burn scrub oak and oak woodlands to maintain the low
sprouting vegetation that resulted from over 200 years of
repeated burning, cutting and grazing (Foster & Motzkin,
1999; Foster et al., 2002b).

Motivations for the maintenance and restoration of open
and early successional vegetation are diverse. In many settings
conservation of these habitats is based on aesthetic and nos-
talgic considerations as landowners and managers attempt to
sustain an attractive, although increasingly scarce landscape
that forms a cherished part of New England’s heritage and
cultural memory. This desire to maintain a semi-natural
countryside parallels the widespread appreciation for cultural
landscapes in Britain and north-western Europe (Birks et al.,
1988; Peterken, 1977; Rackham, 2000, 2001). It also has
direct links to Henry Thoreau’s poetic appreciation of the
pervasive human element in his agrarian landscape (Gleason,
1917; Allen, 1936; Buell, 1995; Foster, 1999).

For many conservationists protection of open-land habitats
is tied to the fundamental desire to maintain biological
diversity, especially that represented by uncommon species
and assemblages (cf. Jones & Vickery, 1997; BioMap, 2001).
Although many uncommon species in New England occur
more abundantly elsewhere, a number of the open-land spe-
cies are globally rare and thus the effort to protect habitats in
this region takes on heightened importance (Askins, 2000). In
other cases loss of habitat across the broader range of a species’
distribution has made marginal habitats in New England more
valuable. For example, the historical destruction of mid-
western prairies threatens some grassland species that occur
on remnant successional land in the east. Ironically, in New
England hotspots for grassland species, which include exten-
sive areas of short grass, are increasingly provided through the
careful management of completely artificial habitats such as

military bases, air fields or land fills (Leahy et al., 1996;
Jones & Vickery, 1997; Vickery & Dunwiddie, 1997; Askins,
2000). In a period of declining agricultural activity and
agrarian landscapes a new and albeit less romantic human
landscape is providing important habitat.

Importantly, restoration of successional habitat through
burning is also motivated from a variant on the wildland
ethic. Specifically, many groups promote the notion that
extensive areas of grassland, shrubland, young forest and
savannas prevailed before European settlement and were
maintained by natural disturbance (e.g. wind and wildlife,
especially beaver) and Indian activity including horticulture,
village clearing and purposeful burning (cf. Patterson &
Sassaman, 1988; Askins, 2000). However, in New England
there is scant historical or palaeoecological evidence to
support the notion of extensive openlands (cf. Foster et al.,
2002b; Motzkin & Foster, 2002; Parshall et al., 2003).
Indeed, most evidence suggests that open upland habitats,
especially the heathlands and grasslands that support diverse
species and assemblages, were almost exclusively the product
of European land-use practices (Motzkin & Foster, 2002).
Nonetheless, understanding the long-term changes in fire and
human activity associated with the development and the
changing abundance of these habitats provide conservation-
ists with the tools necessary to maintain or restore them.

The environmental argument for increased forest

management

One bridge between the desire to restore wildlands and the
interest in conserving cultural and early successional land-
scapes is the argument for an increase in responsible and
sustainable forestry. One important fact to bear in mind is
that landowners in New England have great latitude in the
treatment of their land and no governmental compulsion to
operate under a long-term or regional plan or to manage for
specific habitats. As a consequence, long-term protection of
productive forestlands is frequently uncertain and the pat-
tern, intensity, and environmental soundness of timber har-
vesting are often haphazard and highly variable (Berlik
et al., 2002). The result is that forest growth exceeds har-
vests across the region and low intensity harvesting is dis-
persed across the region, interfering with the development of
extensive wildlands (Fig. 5).

The call for increased forest management and harvesting is
a response to this history and is based on diverse arguments
that harvesting is economically feasible; societally desirable
to improve woodlands that have arisen through a history of
neglect and abuse; essential for generating specific wildlife
habitats; and desirable from a global environmental per-
spective (Irland, 1999; Foster & O’Keefe, 2000; Donohue,
2001; Berlik et al., 2002). Although timber harvesting has
been a traditional land-use activity over past centuries, the
calls for increased harvesting are fairly consistent in their
insistence that the actual practices involved should be more
intensive, but also should be conceived, supervised and
regulated more effectively. Unfortunately, too much of the
current logging is short-sighted and essentially unmanaged

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1544 D. R. Foster



and therefore is poorly planned in terms of spatial patterns,
future conditions or long-term goals.

The organizations and agencies involved in promoting
increased environmentally-sound harvesting are remarkably
diverse, ranging from small land trusts and community
organizations (e.g. Mount Grace Conservation Land Trust;
Golodetz & Foster, 1996; Donahue, 2001), regional and
national conservation organizations (e.g. Vermont Land
Trust, New England Forestry Foundation, The Nature
Conservancy, Society for the Protection of New Hampshire
Forests), municipal, state and federal agencies to private
industry groups (Irland, 1999). For example, major efforts at
developing environmentally sound harvesting regimes based
on natural disturbance regimes have emerged recently from
academic, industrial and conservation organizations. Other
efforts link harvesting practices directly to the habitat
requirements of individual wildlife species, especially game
animals (DeGraaf & Yamasaki, 2001). One important
development has been efforts to establish permanent con-
servation protection (i.e. legally binding conservation
restrictions) on forestlands in order to ensure that these areas
may be kept in active management and contribute to the
broader goal of controlling development and land conver-
sion (K. Ross, pers. comm.) Nonetheless, there remains
major public mistrust and general antipathy towards
timber harvesting, especially in suburban regions (Donahue,
2001).

In part to counter this public sentiment, a recent en-
vironmental argument for logging has been forwarded. This
argument cites the fact that the second-growth forests of
New England could supply a meaningful percentage of
local consumption on a sustainable basis (perhaps as much
as 50% if combined with effective conservation and re-
cycling) and argues that to do so would ease the environ-
mental pressure on more fragile and natural landscapes
elsewhere in the world that are currently exporting prod-
ucts to the USA (Berlik et al., 2002). Local wood produc-
tion from an environmentally conscious region like New

England, where it would be subject to public scrutiny
should ensure better oversight and longer-term objectives.
Local management also provides incentives for landowners
to retain and improve their land holdings over time thereby
thwarting the tendency to develop, sell or harvest for
immediate gain. Local harvesting might even promote
conservation of resources by the consumptive New England
population by drawing a clear connection between resource
production and consumption. The increased use and focus
on the value and attributes of the region’s forests might
also become part of an initiative to reconnect the New
England population with the land and to promote local,
town-based conservation (Donahue, 2001).

A R E G I O N A L C O N S E R V A T I O N P L A N

F O R N E W E N G L A N D

Challenges and opportunities

The challenges to effective conservation in New England are
formidable: the population is growing and utilizing prodi-
gious quantities of (largely imported) resources; conversion
of woods, fields and farms to industrial and residential use is
proceeding rapidly; indiscriminate harvesting activities are
damaging the remaining forestlands; regional thinking and
planning are uncommon, leading to uncoordinated and
counterproductive activity; vast quantities of forestland lie in
a kaleidoscope pattern of thousands of small non-industrial
private ownerships; and emerging patterns of conservation
activity are generally haphazard and less effective than they
might be (Steel, 1999). However, there are many auspicious
characteristics of the current situation (Figs 6 & 7): there is
strong public interest in the environment and substantial
public and private resources to support initiatives; interesting
broad-scale thinking and conservation planning is emerging;
satellite and GIS technology facilitate management and con-
servation at regional scales and across ownerships and polit-
ical boundaries; the current base of conservation land provides

Figure 5 Forest area (grey) and harvesting

pattern (black) in the state of Massachusetts
over the period 1997–2001. One conse-

quence of management decisions being made

by tens of thousands of landowners is a

haphazard and highly disorganized pattern of
selective cutting. Regionally, harvesting is

most intense in rural areas with low popula-

tion densities. An alternative approach might

involve a regional scheme leading to a pattern
of broad reserves and large areas of focused

timber harvesting. Unpublished data from the

Massachusetts Department of Environmental

Management collected by J. Burk and ar-
chived electronically at the Harvard Forest.

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Thoreau’s country: an historical–ecological perspective on conservation 1545



Figure 6 Expansive forested areas present

diverse opportunities for the development of
large reserves and the restoration of natural

forest processes, structures and species across

New England. Proposals for such wildland

development range from populated southern
areas (top – Quabbin Reservoir watershed in

Massachusetts) to extremely remote Nor-

thern Forest lands in Maine, New Hampshire

and Vermont (bottom – the Northeast King-
dom of Vermont). Photographs by D.R.

Foster.

Figure 7 Remaining agricultural land in

New England is focused in areas such as the

Connecticut River Valley in Massachusetts
where it provides a striking contrast to the

adjacent wooded uplands rising in the dis-

tance. Photograph by D.R. Foster.

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1546 D. R. Foster



a strong starting point; and the abundance and availability of
quality lands provides considerable opportunity for action.

In many ways preservation and restoration in the eastern
USA is immensely easier than in the temperate landscapes of
Britain and Europe. New England is currently 60–90%
forested; much of the forestland outside the industrial north
is in a condition that would be considered �excellent� and
might warrant special protection in many European coun-
tries (G. Peterken, K. Kirby, pers. comm.). The diversity of
native species is great, few species have been driven extinct,
current wildlife assemblages include many large mammals
and birds, and although there are problems with introduced
species, there are no taxa comparable with the introduced
deer or immense monocultures of Sitka spruce, Douglas fir
and lodgepole pine that have a strong impact on ecological
conditions across broad portions of the English and Scottish
landscape. The period of intensive land use in New England
has also been comparatively brief and simple by European
standards. Thus historical–ecological sources can provide
informative insights into the changes and processes that have
shaped these landscapes and their plant and animal popu-
lations since pre-settlement times (Oliver & Stephens, 1977;
Foster & Zebryk, 1993; Fuller et al., 1998; cf. McLachlan
et al., 2000; Motzkin et al., 2002).

These studies indicate that a substantial percent of the
New England landscape remains in �primary� forest (British
�ancient woods�): areas that were cut or burned but never
cleared, plowed or intensively grazed (Foster et al., 1998;
Hall et al., 2002). Importantly, these areas retain much of
their native floras and thus have and may continue to serve
as large reservoirs for the restoration of natural landscapes
(Motzkin et al., 1996, 1999a,b; Foster & Motzkin, 1999;
Bellemare et al., 2002; Gerhardt & Foster, 2002). Mean-
while, New England’s cultural history has produced a
delightful array of agrarian landscapes and corresponding
traditions including meadows, pastures, arable lands,
heathlands, and scrublands that diversify the landscape
ecologically and visually (Figs 8 & 9). Agriculture is gener-
ally small scale and relatively low intensity due to the small
size and topographic unevenness of most holdings. Conse-
quently, landscape eutrophication and loadings of herbicide
and pesticide that present problems in many parts of Europe
are generally minor issues. In secondary woodlands across
the region the relicts of the agrarian past – stonewalls, an-
cient fence-line trees, woodland paths and dirt roads, and
abandoned mill ponds, dams and cellar holes – add an in-
triguing historic and cultural element to the natural growth
of trees, shrubs and herbs (Wessels, 1999; Foster & O’Keefe,
2000).

Weaving conservation directions geographically

and historically

The real challenge looming for conservationists in New
England is how to weave a coherent and comprehensive
approach that integrates the diverse landscape histories,
modern characteristics and cultural attitudes in this hetero-
geneous region. How do we reconcile the cultural, the wild

and the semi-natural elements of the land, the very different
rates of ecological change in different systems and their
environmental drivers, and the urge for preservation and
restoration, with environmentally and socially responsible
natural resource management? Sketched below is an admit-
tedly simplistic and broad-brush outline that is intended to
initiate a discussion that recognizes, embraces, and begins to
incorporate the very different directions for conservation
discussed in the text. The approach is historical, ecological
and geographical. And, it includes people, the land and the
past, with an eye towards the future.

The approach begins with recognition of the interaction
between history and environmental conditions in shaping
current ecological conditions and trajectories. It then iden-
tifies regions supporting and amenable to the three very
different objectives and management regimes discussed
above: the restoration and maintenance of wild semi-nat-
ural, resource-management and cultural landscapes. It ar-
gues for placing each of these regimes in the land based on
landscape history and current condition and then closes with
a strong plea for pursuing these objectives through a com-
prehensive plan based on science, historical research, clear
objectives and long-term measurement and re-assessment (cf.
Sutherland & Hill, 1995; Foster et al., 2002b).

Natural landscapes and broad-scale ecological processes
Across much of northern New England and extending south
through the White and Green Mountains into western and
central Massachusetts and western Connecticut lie extensive
forestlands that are thinly populated and oftentimes held
in large public and private ownerships. Much of this area
has been heavily logged or even farmed historically, but it
includes expanses of primary forest, wetlands and water
bodies. Although some of these areas, notably in the Berk-
shire, Taconic and Green Mountains, are recognized for
their diverse woodland flora, most of the region supports
fairly common and low-diversity assemblages of plants. As a
result of its historical, ecological and socioeconomic setting,
this region is well-suited to the maintenance and restoration
of broad-scale ecological processes and species that require
extensive and unbroken areas of natural landscapes (cf.
Golodetz & Foster, 1996; Anderson, 1999).

Within this region it appears desirable and quite feasible
to couple two complementary management approaches: the
protection of truly wild and unmanaged lands in extensive
core reserve areas, surrounded by substantial forested tracts
under long-term, environmentally sound management for
timber products. Logically, the wild preserves should focus
on regions of lowest human population, continuous forest,
and primary and old-growth woodlands. These might prin-
cipally embrace large portions of the Northern Forest (cf.
Dobbs & Ober, 1996), including the Adirondacks of New
York, Green Mountains and North-east Kingdom of Ver-
mont, White Mountains of New Hampshire and adjoining
Maine and large portions of the Maine Woods. Select areas
in the south could also be so designated. A recent proposal to
develop core areas with the structural and biological char-
acteristics of old-growth forests within a matrix of managed

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Thoreau’s country: an historical–ecological perspective on conservation 1547



Figure 8 Extremely important habitat for

uncommon species and diverse plant and
insect assemblages is provided by coastal

grasslands, heathlands and shrublands such

as the (top) central moors of Nantucket
(middle) Katama Plains of Martha’s Vine-

yard, and (bottom) Wellfleet Massachusetts

Audubon Sanctuary on Cape Cod. These

lands were deforested and subsequently
grazed intensively by sheep and oftentimes

plowed for pasture improvement before

abandonment. Consequently, over the long-

term active management is required to pre-
vent the encroachment of woody vegetation

including ericaceous shrubs, scrub and tree

oaks, and pitch pine. Photographs by D.R.

Foster.

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1548 D. R. Foster



forest on the Quabbin Reservoir Watershed in Massachu-
setts provides such an example in a more densely populated
setting. These core areas would be established to incorporate
(but not be restricted to) areas of primary woodland (i.e.
land continually in forest) in an attempt to promote natural
conditions with intact species assemblages (B. Spencer, pers.
comm.).

Large forested areas supporting long-term management
would surround these cores, providing both a buffer and a
bridge to adjacent semi-natural forests and cultural land-
scapes. The managed forests would provide many benefits.
As extensive wooded regions they would extend many of the
attributes of the wildland cores in terms of wildlife habitat,
ecological process, scenery and recreation. As a substantial
source of reliable and sustainable natural resources they
would diminish New England’s emphasis on imports and
lessen the region’s burden on other forest areas (including

old-growth forests) world-wide. A forest-based economy
that included finished products as well as raw materials
could sustain rural communities and lifestyles, maintain or
even increase society’s connectedness to the land, and lead to
a stronger conservation ethic (see below). As many of New
England’s forests have been high-graded and poorly man-
aged historically, initiating effective long-term management
could improve forest habitat diversity, productivity and
appearance. However, in order to develop this approach
effectively there is a need for strong coordinated effort on the
acquisition of extensive, continuous forest areas across this
region, development of conservation restrictions on broad
areas of managed lands, and coordination of management
plans. The emphasis on coordination across ownership,
political boundaries and current management patterns
clearly looms as the major challenge in promoting a long-
term coherent plan for these regions.

Figure 9 Examples of transient vegetation
structures in the New England landscape

include (top) red cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
in an abandoned field and (bottom) open-
grown and wind-shaped oaks on the

Menemsha Hills of Martha’s Vineyard.

Through succession the old-field vegetation

will become forested and the cedars will be
replaced by more shade tolerant hardwood

species. New trees growing in the shelter of

the forest of highly contorted stems will

develop straight growth forms. Photographs
by D.R. Foster.

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Thoreau’s country: an historical–ecological perspective on conservation 1549



Semi-natural Woodlands in New England’s Backyard
Across much of southern New England in both suburban
and rural areas, a range of forests from fairly large expanses
to backyard woodlots are fragmented by the residential,
industrial and agricultural activities of a dense human pop-
ulation. Although these woodlands are unsuited to support
broad-scale ecological processes or wide-ranging large
mammals they do harbour an extensive array of forest types,
woodland flora and fauna, and native habitat, which in turn
provide a diverse range of ecological, societal and economic
benefits (Donahue, 2001). From the ecological side are bio-
diversity and ecosystem services including clean water and
air and a healthy environment. For a dense population there
are recreational and amenity benefits in close proximity to
work and home. These areas can also serve as important
centres for environmental education that link the sur-
rounding population to its natural and cultural heritage.
Finally, long-term management of these semi-natural
woodlands offers an environmentally responsible means of
yielding substantial additional resources while reinforcing
the connections among people, their land, its husbandry and
resource consumption. Thus, areas that are less suitable for
supporting broad-scale ecological process could provide
many essential environmental benefits by becoming the foci
of management and resource production.

Protection of these areas from development is an essen-
tial first step that can also serve as an important buffer
against the sprawl of residential, suburban and industrial
development. Management, although currently limited by
the fragmented structure and diverse ownership pattern of
these areas could be undertaken in a coordinated or com-
munity basis (Donohue, 2001). Many communities cur-
rently own town forests, watershed lands, and other open
spaces and these could be expanded on and actively man-
aged in conjunction with private lands while enhancing
their role in education and local connectedness (Donahue,
2001).

The cultural landscape – our Agrarian legacy
Scattered throughout New England and especially in the
broad valleys of the Connecticut River and Lake Champlain,
in the rural uplands of the region, and along the coastal area
of the Cape and Islands lies a remarkable array of active or
abandoned agricultural landscapes that harbour a diverse
and declining set of habitats and assemblages of plants and
animals. The strong imprint of human activity on these areas
accentuates their importance by adding an intriguing ele-
ment of New England cultural history to their biologically
unique quality. Most of the landscapes and parcels are small
and two processes threaten essentially all of them – devel-
opment and succession. More positively, few of the un-
common plants and animals of these areas require vast
expanses. Thus, the potential exists to restore many of these
landscapes and to maintain many populations on a fairly
local scale.

In the coastal region, e.g. Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha’s
Vineyard, Elizabeth Islands and Block Island, extensive
parcels are currently protected and little potential exists for

major expansion because of exorbitant land prices and finely
dissected ownership patterns. However, consolidation of
existing holdings and key small parcels could protect more
continuous larger tracts. Elsewhere, especially in the agri-
cultural regions of New England there remains great
potential and need to protect land through acquisition or
conservation restrictions because of the weak land-use reg-
ulations and zoning in most regions. Beyond restrictions,
there is a need to assess agricultural and related land-use
practices, as the tendency towards modernization and
intensification of farming practices is just as damaging to
many habitats as is the abandonment of the land and sub-
sequent forest succession. Importantly, the resurgence of
wildlife in some of these regions may present an additional
concern in terms of overgrazing by deer or moose. In the
absence of effective predation or hunting and with excellent
available habitat, these populations will pose a major threat
to forest regeneration and herb species diversity.

In both coastal and rural agricultural areas major
impediments to effective conservation include inadequate
historical–ecological information and the lack of long-term
management and planning. In contrast to many wooded
areas where management is more of an opportunity than a
necessity, in the cultural landscapes of grassland, heathland,
shrubland and young forest the retention of the vegetation
and its value as habitat is completely dependent on active
management. Recognition of this fact relies on the incor-
poration of the type of historical–ecological enquiry advo-
cated and pursued by Henry Thoreau. Results from such
enquiry leads to an appreciation of the historical practices,
including mowing, grazing, plowing, planting, repeated
cutting or burning that created and sustained the landscape
through time (Foster et al., 2002b; Motzkin & Foster,
2002). In some cases such studies indicate that the vegetation
or its specific structures are completely transient and are
impossible to sustain or restore on the same spot. This would
be true of some successional communities such as white pine
forests or particular physiognomic types, like the contorted
oaks of Menemsha on Martha’s Vineyard, which were
produced through succession in an open, wind-blown land-
scape as opposed to the heavily forested conditions that
prevail today. In other cases it may become immediately
apparent which agricultural practices were important; at
that point the management question becomes one of
retaining or re-introducing these, attempting to simulate
them with other means (e.g. using mowers as opposed to
grazing animals), or allowing the vegetation to change. In
any case this research and subsequent decisions and planning
become part of a framework for conservation.

A long-term framework for conservation

and management

Given the wide range of historical conditions of the land and
the diverse interests of conservationists there can be no
simple and objective decision-making process in identifying
the goals for restoration or management. Defining objec-
tives, whether they are to mimic pre-European conditions,

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1550 D. R. Foster



promote natural processes, restore elements of Henry
Thoreau’s nineteenth century landscape, retain existing
habitats, or encourage new assemblages of organisms, will
always be a subjective enterprise. However, there is a
framework for restoration that combines historical study
and long-term measurement and planning that can assist
in the decision-making process, help in conveying goals
and encourage the assessment of results and completion of
objectives. It consists of five steps.

1. Conduct extensive historical and ecological studies on
the landscape, habitat and organisms of interest. This
research may be archaeological, palaeoecological, den-
drochronological, pedological, historical, sociological or
other depending on the ecosystem and landscape and
available resources (Birks et al., 1988; Foster & Motzkin,
1999; Hall et al., 2002). These studies will help to define
the past conditions of the land including the range of
past plant and animal assemblages; identify some of the
critical processes controlling these dynamics and the
formation of present conditions; assess the rate of current
and future change; and define some of the limits of
management or restoration (Foster et al., 1996; Foster &
Motzkin, 1998). Importantly, a historical–ecological
perspective may provide useful guidance in identifying
appropriate management tools for restoration as well as
key variables for assessment (Motzkin et al., 1996,
1999a, 2002). Included in this assessment should be a
thorough consultation of literature on analogous com-
munities and conservation activities world-wide. This is
particularly critical in the area of cultural landscape res-
toration where, for example, European expertise far
outshines that in American (e.g. Peterken, 1977, 1996;
Birks et al., 1988; Rackham, 2000, 2001).

2. Define explicit goals and rationale. Based on historical
and ecological studies, geographical considerations and
articulated management objectives clearly define specific
goals for the proposed management and restoration,
whether this is focused towards populations, species
assemblages, habitat structure and appearance, ecological
process or landscape pattern. Equally important, they
clearly explain the rationale underlying these long-term
objectives. Are goals based on historical condition,
aesthetic interests, production concerns, recreational
opportunity, or other factors? Together the goals and
rationale will provide a clear explanation of the activity
to the larger community and future managers, and will
allow the development of a robust framework for asses-
sing progress.

3. Develop an objective, scientific framework for measuring
management impacts and progress towards goals. Man-
agement and restoration without an appropriate scientific
monitoring protocol are irresponsible. A good pro-
gramme of measurement will enable assessment of results
and progress towards goals; will provide an effective base
for communicating the activity to other land managers,
scientists and local constituencies; and, in the long-term,
it will yield invaluable scientific data. Such a protocol

should mimic that of any large-scale scientific experiment
or manipulation, including measurement of pertinent eco-
logical variables in advance of management to determine
baseline conditions, and regular measurement beyond the
management period. Measurements should be made on
true controls (similar unmanaged areas) and on managed
areas and should be based on a statistically appropriate
design. Measurements should be made on key variables
that are commensurate with the goals.

4. Ensure the long-term integrity of the restoration activity
and measurements. Landscape conditions develop over
long periods of time and management regimes necessarily
need to be long-term, as should be the measurements that
accompany them. Therefore, restoration or other con-
servation activities should not be undertaken without the
prospect for sustained, ongoing interest and financial
support. Many restoration activities are intensive con-
sumers of time and money and their novelty may wear
thin before objectives can be met or maintained. Conse-
quently, part of the decision-making process and goal-
setting activity should hinge on sustainability of active
involvement.

5. Reassess and revisit the entire project frequently over
time. At appropriate intervals, results from the long-term
measurements should be used to assess progress and to
amend goals or management regimes. None of the land-
scapes that we seek to conserve in New England is static,
as environmental conditions, human activities and nat-
ural disturbance regimes have changed through time.
Although management regimes should be focused on
long-term results it would be foolhardy to anticipate that
they will not change or be modified through time.

Challenges and limitations to restoration

and conservation in New England

From studies of community and landscape history, experi-
ence with ongoing restoration and conservation activities,
and the considerable research and expertise of our European
colleagues, we can outline some of the realities of ecological
systems and New England landscape history that will pro-
vide challenges and constraints on our future conservation
activities. Probably the single greatest impediment is social
and psychological: acceptance of the fact that most of our
most precious habitats and highest conservation priorities
are in some ways artefacts of the cultural activity of Henry
Thoreau’s contemporaries. Although adjustment to this
reality may be difficult for a population geared largely
towards wilderness values, it is essential if a range of species
and landscape attributes are to be conserved effectively. It
also provides a strong argument for the active support by
conservationists and the environmental community for
maintenance and expansion of a wide range of land-use
activities, including agriculture and logging in a region
where these have been declining steadily.

The landscape, individual habitats, and species popula-
tions in this region have undergone continual changes over

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Thoreau’s country: an historical–ecological perspective on conservation 1551



time in the pre-European and especially the historical period.
This ongoing change results from disturbance, environmen-
tal shifts, and changing human culture and activities and it
presents conservationists with many challenges and restric-
tions:

1. It is impossible to retain or return exactly to historical
conditions.

2. There is a wide range of conditions to chose from at any
ecological scale (population to landscape) and all of them
are transient. There is no single, ideal state for restoration
for any given site or area.

3. Future change is inevitable. As a consequence of ongoing
recovery from past human activity and disturbance, and
future changes in wildlife, the environment, and introduced
organisms, all protected areas will continue to change.

Finally, some habitats, plant and animal assemblages, and
vegetation structures may simply be difficult or impossible to
maintain or restore. This results from the fact that many
assemblages are successional and transient entities that were
produced by unique sequences of historical events. Examples
would include old-field red cedar, pitch pine or white pine
forests and coastal oak woodlands filled with wind-swept
and contorted trees. Although the sequence of events that
gave rise to these may be replicated on an array of sites, it is
impossible to maintain these assemblages in place as the
growth of the plants and vegetation has changed the envi-
ronment that allowed their formation.

The mid-nineteenth century, essentially the period span-
ning Henry Thoreau’s lifetime, represents a critical reference
period for much of New England. This period of most ex-
tensive deforestation and intensive agricultural land use
represents an ecological bottleneck through which the
landscape has passed. Consequently, determining the land-
scape pattern and land-use history at and since that time
provides essential information for all conservationists.

When I walk in the fields of Concord and meditate on
the destiny of this prosperous slip of the Saxon family,
the unexhausted energies of this new country, I forget
that this which is now Concord was once Musketaquid,
and that the American race has had its destiny also.
Everywhere in the fields, in the corn and grain land, the
earth is strewn with the relics of a race which has van-
ished as completely as if trodden in with the earth. I find
it good to remember the eternity behind me as well as
the eternity before. Henry D. Thoreau 19 March 1842.

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

The views expressed in this paper and the supporting evi-
dence for the discussion have benefited from the assistance
and input of many people: members of the Bergen confer-
ence on cultural landscapes (Birks et al., 1988), the Harvard
Forest lab group, S. Barry, J. Bellemare, D. Bernardos,
J. Burk, B. Colburn, B. Donahue, P. Dunwiddie, H. Foster,
E. Gould, B. Hall, R. Hubley, K. Kirby, D. Kittredge,

J. McLachlan, G. Motzkin, J. O’Keefe, D. Orwig, T. Parshall,
G. Peterken, B. Patterson, H. Raup, K. Ross, J. Sayen,
B. Spencer, T. Spies, F. Swanson, and H.E. Wright. This
research has been supported by The Nature Conservancy,
A.W. Mellon Foundation, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Biodiversity programme, and the National Science Founda-
tion and is a contribution of the Harvard Forest Long-Term
Ecological Research programme.

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B I O S K E T C H

David Foster is a plant ecologist and palaeoecologist who
combines historical and modern approaches to interpret
and conserve natural and cultural landscapes.

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Thoreau’s country: an historical–ecological perspective on conservation 1555