2007 was NWT's most productive year to date! We protected over 4,000 acres of wilderness in Maine, New York, and New Hampshire.Click here to learn about some of our recent achievements.
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Wapack Wilderness PROTECTED!Rindge and New Ipswich, New HampshireIn November 2007, the Northeast Wilderness Trust completed the first phase of the Wapack Wilderness project, preserving 1,200 acres of vibrant forest, waterways, and wetlands in Rindge and New Ipswich, New Hampshire. An additional 200 acres will be placed under easement by December 2008. Download Wapack Wilderness Profile (.PDF) Howland Research Forest PROTECTED!Howland and Edinburg, MaineIn November 2007, the Northeast Wilderness Trust purchased and permanently protected the 550-acre Howland Research Forest, located in Howland and Edinburg, Maine. Howland Forest is characterized by old-growth spruce and hemlock and provides habitat for species such as moose, black bear, bobcat, and bald eagle. Hersey MountainNew Hampton and Sanbornton, New HampshireIn June 2007, the Northeast Wilderness Trust (NWT) and the New England Forestry Foundation (NEFF) completed a forever-wild conservation easement on
A rigorous ecological assessment of the property was conducted by ecologist and NWT president Rick Van de Poll to determine which areas should be preserved as wilderness. Upon Van de Poll’s recommendation, approximately 2,100 acres have been protected as wilderness under a conservation easement held by the Northeast Wilderness Trust. The rest of the property, 1,000 acres, will be managed for sustainable forestry by NEFF. This marks NWT’s first conservation transaction in
Special thanks to Sweet Water Trust for helping to create the
Split Rock Wildway |
The wilderness easement has preserved over a mile of the historic Wapack Trail and eight distinct natural communities—two of which are rare. The property also abuts other protected lands resulting in greater habitat connectivity. 
Initially established as a research site by International Paper in 1987, Howland has hosted scientists from around the world for studies on forest health and climate change. Over a decade ago, Howland scientists began to examine how the forest stores carbon and helps stabilize our planet from three meteorological towers on the land. These scientists now have one of the longest records of carbon intake and output (flux) in the world. This data forms the basis for policies that mitigate the impacts of global warming. 
roadless property, forested primarily by northern hardwoods and home to a diversity of wildlife, including moose and black bear. Comprised of multiple tracts of land, the
Split Rock Wildway Linking the Split Rock Wild Forest and the foothills and High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains Projects
The Split Rock Wildway is an ambitious effort led by local citizens and a diversity of conservation organizations to protect wildlife habitat linking the publicly owned Split Rock Wild Forest along Lake Champlain with the foothills and High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. To date, approximately 6,000 acres have been protected, primarily through state or private land acquisition-a promising start towards restoring and protecting the rich biological diversity and wildlife habitat of this area. Northeast Wilderness Trust has protected five critical parcels in the Split Rock Wildway and is working on the protection of other lands and waters in the Wildway.
Download Wildway Profile (.PDF)
NWT was among the land trusts awarded a conservation transaction grant by the New York State Conservation Partnership Program, an innovative public-private collaboration designed to build strong local and regional conservation programs. The 2006 grantees are pictured above at the State Capital in June at a press conference highlighting the value of this unique partnership whose funding is in jeopardy. Photo courtesy of the LTA
Alder Stream A Wilderness in the Heart of Maine
The Alder Stream watershed is a focus of the Northeast Wilderness Trust’s conservation efforts because of its biological richness, recreational opportunities and wilderness character. The watershed is home to a great diversity of plants, birds, fish, mammal, reptile, and amphibian species. The Northeast Wilderness Trust’s pursuance and acquisition of the 1,500-acre Alder Stream property—located in the heart of the watershed—is vital to the ecological health of the watershed and an important step in advancing larger conservation efforts within the region. The Alder Stream parcel is characterized by cedar swamps and rich bogs, conifer and northern hardwood forest, and a remote, wild character. The property contains extensive frontage on the
Download Alder Stream Profile (.PDF)
Quebec to Vermont Corridor Cross-border connectivity
Northeast Wilderness Trust is working with Canadian and American partners to preserve a wildlife and recreational linkage from Quebec to Vermont. Appalachian Corridor Appalachien (ACA), a conservation organization dedicated to the protection of lands in southern Quebec, is a lead partner. (www.apcor.ca) The ACA corridor follows the extension of the Appalachian range, encompasses the northern Green Mountains, Sutton Mountains massif, and extends north to Mount Orford. This natural corridor includes diverse forests and vegetation, and provides habitat for myriad of species such as lynx and bear, which depend on this corridor for survival, and hundreds of species of birds.
Habitat for Wild Creatures Making room for wildness in a crowded world Projects
The Northeast Wilderness Trust is working to preserve habitat, feeding sites, and movement corridors across the Northeast for mammals, such as the black bear. To maintain healthy populations of mammals, we must preserve adequate and secure habitat for breeding, eating and living, along with habitat linkages to ensure genetic exchange, safe movement, and dispersal.
Wilderness — A Scientific Baseline and Reservoirs of Biodiversity
The protection of land as forever-wild has long been recognized for its scientific value. As early as the 1920's ecologists called for the protection of wilderness to ensure a baseline for scientific study. In 1942, ecologist E.L. Sumner wrote "to the men of science, the dwindling wilderness is an irreplaceable reservoir of information on natural conditions." Wild areas serve as reservoirs of biological diversity and provide refuge for species. Land preserved as forever-wild provides a baseline against which we can evaluate the impacts of human activities. Northeast Wilderness Trust is committed to helping preserve wild areas that can serve as baselines for scientific study.
Preserving Family Lands Projects
Across this magnificent region, families are preserving their lands as forever-wild to leave a legacy for future generations of all species. Integral to land conservation and management is the sound understanding of which species occur, what their relative abundance and distribution are, and what sort of population fluctuations can be expected. Lester Anderson, founder and advisor of the Colby Hill Ecological Project (CHEP) donated an easement to NWT on his family research forest in Lincoln, Vermont. For more information on CHEP, please visit the Vermont Family Forests website.
There are many options for landowners. Contact the Northeast Wilderness Trust to learn more about how you and your family can preserve your land as wild.
"To save every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering." - Aldo Leopold, Round River, 1953